We had another incredible year highlighting a dozen incredible #WomenOfWesleyan for International Women’s Day 2023. Our features included alumni and friends from a variety of ages and backgrounds and career paths including nonprofit leadership, medicine, entrepreneurship and so much more. Enjoy this look back on this year’s #WomenOfWesleyan and let us know who we should feature next year at alumni@kwc.edu.
Kelsey Jarboe ’14 is CEO and a real estate agent at The Harris-Jarboe Group of Keller Williams Elite! In addition to her “day job” of being a realtor, Kelsey owns various rental properties including a Dolly Parton-inspired Airbnb, is the co-founder of the VZN real estate platform and spends a significant amount of time pouring into others through real estate coaching, motivational speaking and through her online community “Leading Ladies.”
Allyson (Forrest) Sanders ’05 works full time at OCTC as the director of sales & marketing for workforce solutions. She also owns TWO businesses – The Party Space Place and Something Borrowed.
As if that’s not enough, Allyson serves on a number of nonprofit boards including the YMCA, My Sister’s Keeper and KWC’s alumni board. She’s also a mom of two and a wife to her #WesleyanSweetheart Marshall Sanders ’11.
She was named Leadership Owensboro Member of the Year in 2021 and Owensboro Minority Business Leader of the Year in 2023.
Deb (Carter) Dearing ’79 is an attorney at Dearing Batten & Bauer LLC where she primarily practices real estate, business law and estate planning in St. Louis.
She is secretary of the KWC Board of Trustees, an active member of Grace United Methodist Church, St. Louis and a member of the Missouri Conference Board of Trustees.
She and her husband, Ted, were married right here on campus in Tapscott Chapel.
It wouldn’t be a lineup of #WomenofWesleyan without the beloved Becca McQueen-Ruark, VP of Student Affairs here at KWC.
Becca’s the only female member of the President’s Cabinet here at KWC and has spent the entirety of her career working in higher education.
Becca has been instrumental in a variety of campus achievements, including growing sophomore retention through the Sophomore Experience Program (2014-2017), adding a director of counseling services for students (2017) and, most recently, led one of the most critical roles on campus as we navigated the pandemic.
In her spare time, Becca enjoys interviewing empowering women on her podcast, The Broad Pod, shopping at Target and spending time with her husband, Matt ’09, and sweet baby boy Asher.
After graduating from KWC, Audrey (Sanders) O’Bryan ’17 earned her Master of Education in counseling and human development from Lindsey Wilson College. Audrey is an outpatient therapist at River Valley Behavioral Health here in Owensboro and she’s married to her #WesleyanSweetheart, Logan O’Bryan ’17.
Alice Shade ’91 is the founder and current CEO of 4A Ventures where she consults and manages a team of advisors to help businesses grow. Prior to 4A Ventures, Alice spent a decade as founder and CEO of SentryHealth, a technology-enabled health management platform firm.
Alice was part of Greater Louisville Inc.’s “Fast 50” list, was named the 2018 Emerging Entrepreneur by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, was the recipient of the Greater Louisville Inc.’s 2019 Inc.credible Health & Wellness Award and the Worksite Wellness Council of Louisville’s 2019 Worksite Wellness Gold Award.
Alice is the mother to three daughters, and of course, the Panther Basketball alumna coached their grade school basketball teams!
Dr. Connie White ’76 graduated from the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine in 1984.
After spending 20 years in private practice in Frankfort, Ky., she decided it was time to “reinvent” herself and began working in public health in Kentucky.
After a couple of roles focused on women’s health, Dr. White was named Deputy Commissioner for Clinical Services at the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Jami (York) Hernandez ’00 was recently named Vice President of Commercial Lending at Mid-Southern Savings Bank, FSB in Louisville after spending a number of years in banking with Old National Bank, First Financial Bank & JP Morgan Chase & Co.
She’s also been active in a variety of nonprofits, including the Junior League of Louisville, Twisted Pink & KWC Alumni Association’s Board of Directors.
2017 Alumni Hall of Fame Inductee and 2014 Alumni Achievement Awardee Lydia Dorman ’82 majored in telecommunications, minored in business and was an active member of Kappa Delta sorority, a Pacesetter (a pom-pom girl for the basketball team) and the camerawoman for home basketball games.
She was inducted into Order of Oak and Ivy in 1982 and was named Miss Black Expo by the non-profit, Owensboro Black Expo.
After graduating, she went on to an amazing career that included working for The Walt Disney Company, Toyota and The Coca Cola Company. Her career took her around the world, including 7 years in Japan!
In 2016, Lydia was proudly awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree prior to delivering the Commencement speech on “Being your Brand” to KWC’s graduating class. She is also a dedicated member to KWC’s Board of Trustees.
Read more about her incredible career here.
There’s no doubt we’ve had some trailblazers in this year’s lineup and Anna (Lake) Crasher ’18 is no different. Not only is Anna the youngest director of campus ministries in KWC’s history, she’s also the first female to serve in the role!
Dorothy Rates Finiello-Milburn ’77 is a (mostly) retired art teacher who spent most of her professional career teaching art to elementary and middle grades in North Carolina Public Schools. During her time in the school system, she earned accolades including recognition for community service, mentorship and she was named in the Top 20 Teachers in the 2017 Johnston County Flame for Learning’s Teacher of the Year!
In addition to teaching, she has served as art services director & festivals coordinator for The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County.
Dorothy earned her degrees and teaching certification in art from Kentucky Wesleyan College, Fayetteville State University and from the University of North Carolina-Pembroke.
She is married to her #WesleyanSweetheart, Robert Milburn ’81 and still creates art through her studio, The Good Lil’ Artist Art & Art Services, and works part-time in the school system and community as a tutor.
Kelly (Blanford) Schneider ’86 is the President/CEO of the Easterseals Rehabilitation Center in Evansville. She was a James Graham Brown Scholar and a double major here at KWC and then went on to earn her Master of Health Administration from USI.
She serves on the board of directors of the Community Foundation of Henderson, POW! Partnership of Women and the Women’s Addiction & Recovery Manor. She is a Henderson Leadership Initiative Fellow, a member of USI’s Master of Health Administration Advisory Board and the Mental Health Task Force in Evansville.
She is married to Brad Schneider, Henderson County Judge Executive, and they have 2 adult sons.
And that’s a wrap on this year’s #WomenOfWesleyan lineup! We hope you enjoyed learning more about these outstanding alumnae and celebrating their accomplishments together!
Know of someone we should feature in the coming years? Let us know at alumni@kwc.edu.