New CEO strives to empower women while executing EmBe’s future-focused mission

This paid piece is sponsored by EmBe.

You can see it in the toddler who thrives in child care while a mother is able to work.

You can see it in a woman who finds a professional mentor or finally gets the support she needs to nail a job interview.

And you can see it the girl running a first 5K, mastering her swim strokes or embracing STEM skills.

Empowerment.

That’s the inspiration for EmBe’s name, the root of its mission and the driving force for its team.

That team now has a new leader, Kerri Tietgen, who became EmBe’s CEO earlier this year.

“Being a woman in Sioux Falls, it’s hard not to have a connection with EmBe,” said Tietgen, who had been involved with multiple programs before becoming CEO.

“The reach is great; the programs and services reach every area of our community.”

Kerri Tietgen speaks to EmBe’s Women’s Leadership Program in 2012.

But communities and needs change, and Tietgen and her team recognize EmBe has to change with it.

“This past year has shown just how important EmBe is,” she added. “Women are being stretched in ways they’ve not been stretched before. We had full plates before, and now we face increased caregiving at home, women are exiting the workforce because needs within the home increased, and we are dealing with mental health issues for our youth and for individuals as our community recovers from the pandemic. These issues have really lit a fire for our team.”

The EmBe team is 250 people strong, including fully staffed child care, which Tietgen counts as a particular point of pride.

“Staffing is hard right now, and by providing child care capacity, we allow our community to continue to go to work,” she said.

“So while being fully staffed  is a wonderful reflection of the culture that we’re building, we’re still looking at how do we continue to grow to support the needs in our community. We know we that can grow our child care if we have enough of the right people.”

Executing a vision

Tietgen spent the past 13 years of her career running her consulting business. In that role, she has worked with EmBe’s Women’s Leadership Program as a presenter for years. She also has served as a mentor and advisory committee contributor and was part of the focus group that determined the name EmBe.

“Several years ago, when I dreamed of making a career change, I asked myself what organization would I want to be part of, and EmBe was the one,” she said. “I have a lifelong passion for the mission.”

When that opportunity presented itself, she knew the time was right.

A Beresford native, Tietgen earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska before joining the Federal Reserve Bank in Omaha, first in human resources and then the cash services leadership team, overseeing multiple operations. She moved back to South Dakota in the early 2000s to earn her master’s degree at USD and then joined a consultant group before forming her firm.

As a consultant, though, she would come into an organization, assess it, recommend best practices, “but when the fun work started, I had to leave,” she said. “I decided I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to be part of a team and be there for the ups and downs and everything in between, be part of the execution process.”

At EmBe, she will help execute a newly developed strategic plan centered around four main initiatives tied to organizational sustainability:

• Enhance organizational stability.
• Develop strong organizational processes and empowered staff.
• Create opportunities.
• Greater community understanding and response to mission.

“Our team is looking at how do we execute, are we consistent in our delivery, do we have policies and procedures in place to deliver results with the high standards we want, and then how are we envisioning and dreaming for the future,” Tietgen said.

“Our senior leadership team and leaders throughout the organization are exceptional, so that’s exciting. Our team is a huge encouragement for me.”

While the CEO role attracted many strong candidates, Tietgen was the unanimous choice, board members said.

“Her experience was really compelling to me,” said Alex Halbach, board member and past president. “I think in the life stage EmBe is at, the focus needs to be on building culture. It’s the foundation for the people that help make this organization who it is. We need to make sure we’re doing what we say we’re all about, and I felt like she really brought the strength to bring those pieces together.”

Kerri Tietgen helps at a Dress for Success event.

Tietgen’s background both in human resources and finance are the right blend for EmBe, board chair Kendra Calhoun said.

“We have a really strong team at EmBe, but they need a leader to empower them and allow them to grow and develop,” she said. “Kerri brings that to the table, and coming out of the pandemic, which was so unsettling in so many ways, having someone who understands cultural importance and how to build that foundation and lead that culture is really key.”

A few months in, “I have great confidence,” Calhoun added. “Her team has rallied and supported her. The direction EmBe is headed is only bright.”

Tietgen has a lot on her to-do list.

In the short term, EmBe is renovating part of its downtown building, adapting the historic 1951 Harold Spitznagel building to meet 21st century needs. The renovation creates space for women’s programs in the heart of downtown Sioux Falls, including Dress for Success.

“And we’re expanding child care downtown, and the remodel really allows for that to happen,” Tietgen said. “From head to toe, we’re getting a face-lift.”

The work is scheduled to be done in the spring of 2022.

On the programming side, a new class of the Women’s Leadership Program is launching soon, Girls on the Run is returning, the aquatics program continues to grow, and expanding programming in child care is coming. That’s just the start.

“I look at EmBe through the lens of a workforce organization,” Halbach said. “That’s part of what gets me so excited about EmBe and the direction it’s heading. So many of our programs ultimately are workforce programs, and that’s so needed in this community at this time.”

Tietgen, and by extension EmBe, also will serve as a leader for women in the community – both directly and as an advocate, Calhoun said.

“I’m hoping Kerri is embraced and integrated into the thought-leader tables, the leadership tables around the community where that women’s voice is so important to be heard,” she said. “EmBe is an integral part of the fabric of this community, and that is not going to change.”

It has been that way for a century. While the pandemic precluded celebrating 100 years in 2020, EmBe plans to mark the next 100 years in a big way, Tietgen said.

“I joined with the promise and commitment to the board that my skill set is vision and growing our organization. So if they’re looking for someone to keep them the same doing the same thing we’ve always done, I’m probably not the person. But if they’re thinking about responding to community needs and being a leader and taking what we do well and expanding it, that’s what gets me excited,” she said.

“So while there are a lot of things going on, the mission of the organization is strong, and the leadership is second to none. With those things in place, the sky’s the limit.”