Anne Shea, Executive Director, Civic & Arts, Union League Club, Lake Forest MBA Class of 1999
by Karen Bolek
Anne Shea began her career as a registered nurse. “I began working in the surgical intensive care and surgical heart units. Health care has always been one of my passions in life.”
She then went into healthcare administration, but with the rise of HMOs and medical reimbursement, she decided to move toward the not-for-profit world. “Soon after I moved into the nonprofit environment, I realized an MBA was a necessity. You need excellent skills to compete.”
To select the right MBA program, Shea looked for practicality. She wanted a program that would help her be really effective on the job. As soon as she learned about the Lake Forest MBA, she thought, “This is the program for me.”
Work, School, and Family
At that time, Shea worked at the Archdiocese in Chicago in the area of organizational and resource development, where her title was External Director of the Cardinal’s Appeal. Raising funds by day, she managed simultaneously to raise three children, read widely in the areas of health care and business, consider her next career move, and enroll in the LFGSM MBA program. “You need good time management skill,” she advises.“ As a nurse, I had those skills in place already.”
“Catholic Charities was going to start a home health agency,” she continues, “and they identified a funding and programmatic priority. A friend of mine at Catholic Charities recommended me. I was experienced in fund-raising, in addition to maintaining my nursing license and continuing my reading in healthcare. I was well-positioned to be the candidate of choice. I started the Catholic Charities Home Health Care Agency in June and started classes at the Chicago campus in August.”
Career Jump-Start
The MBA program was so practical that, in the midst of her new responsibilities, she gained skills in class that she could apply at work immediately. In some cases, her class team worked on projects that were applied to the home health agency. “In one of our marketing classes,” she remembers, “my team helped me design a marketing program for assisted living facilities. Another time, we developed a tuberculosis policy. It was a good challenge and opportunity for me because I was the only student working in a not-for-profit environment. The corporate mind-set is so different. I learned a lot. I completed the MBA in 3-1/2 years, and during that time the Catholic Charities Home Health Agency became Medicare certified, Joint Commission accredited, and was generating revenues in excess of one million dollars per year.
Expanding Horizons
Pursuing wider experience, Shea left Catholic Charities and accepted a position as COO of the National Patient Safety Foundation at the AMA. “At that time, the National Institute for Health (NIH) issued a report on medical errors,” she recalls. “One time, I was asked to testify before Congress. LFGSM was mentioned in my bio, which was read in front of Congress.”
When the Foundation was downsized, Shea left to explore different possibilities. Joining Vital Community Health Care Foundation as President proved to be a good opportunity, and when she had gained valuable experience there, she again began to ask herself, “What do I really want to do?”
A Career Dream
Searching online for a new position, she saw a posting for Civic & Arts Foundation Executive Director at the Union League Club of Chicago, an established and prestigious social organization. “The Union League Club has a commitment to community and country,” says Shea. “As I understand it, the ULCC is one of the only private clubs that has three foundations: Boys & Girls Clubs, the Engineers Foundation, and Civic & Arts.”
A lover of the arts, Shea felt aligned with the Civic & Arts Union League Club’s mission and sent in her resume. As one of four finalists, she hoped to gain an edge by developing a tactical plan for the Civic & Arts’ development and communication efforts and presenting it in her final interview. “It was like a project I would have done at LFGSM,” she explains. “I believe the plan was a critical factor in obtaining the position.”
Shea’s task now is to reestablish an infrastructure at the Civic & Arts Foundation that more effectively supports their mission, and to develop a fund-raising program. “Administration, marketing, and development,” she says. “It’s what I learned at Lake Forest. I look forward to developing the Civic & Arts Foundation.”
And the payoff continues. “The MBA program was probably one of my best career moves. I still find that it helps me every day,” she emphasizes. “Right now there’s a lot of competition with other MBA programs. I have a nephew who recently completed his MBA, which was more theoretical. To me, you need to be in the field first. Without my Lake Forest MBA, I probably would have done well, but never could have advanced this far in my career. What makes LFGSM distinctive is its practical application. It gives you an effective means to develop the skills that make you competitive in the marketplace. I will support the program in any way that I can.”
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