Name: Mary Bothwell
Job Title: HMIS Administrative Assistant
Where do you hail from:
I was born and raised in St. Paul MN (not St. Paul, NE) in the same house my mother was born and raised in.
What is it they say you do:
I am part of Jeff Chambers’ group working with the Homeless Management Information System in both Lincoln and the Balance of State. I am the Administrative Assistant to the Nebraska Management Information System and in that position handle the board business and finances. The major portion of my job is managing the ServicePoint licenses used by service agencies throughout Nebraska. Our board, working with UNL, holds the contract with the company providing the more than 500 licenses for the data system. It is up to me to track and bill the agencies using the licenses, also making sure the grant money is applied as approved.
Who are your early influences/who inspired you most:
I come from a very close family and they have always been my greatest influence. We were always taught to work hard, to be responsible, to think of others, to be politically active and to remember to have fun along the way. My mother, especially, taught me to volunteer and give back to the community and the less fortunate.
What has been your greatest source of career satisfaction/ proudest achievement:
I think my proudest achievement was to be the only member of my family to graduate college. My father always wished he had gone to college but after serving in WW II and quickly having 5 children it never happened. He was very excited and pleased when I started at the University of MN. Sadly he died in a work accident at the age of 47 and did not live to see me graduate but I know he would have been proud.
What has been an unexpected detour/ greatest frustration/disappointment:
My detour took place while working toward my degree in psychology. To pay for school I worked part time for the MN state legislature and after graduation ended up staying on, first with the House of Representatives and later with the Senate. I always joked that my psychology degree was more helpful in politics than my husband’s political science degree.
What is your passion/what you are drawn to/what motivates you/where do you hope to be in five years:
I just want to make a difference. I have always worked in non-profit and hope to make things a little better through my efforts. At this point I am nearing retirement and my five year plan involves family and travel.
Family life/hobbies /community involvement:
I love to spend time with my husband, four children, my four grandchildren and my 92 yr old mother. They are the reason we moved back to MN. I love to travel, garden, hike, cook and bake so I always have plenty to do to keep me busy and out of trouble.
The quotation I live my life by is......
Not so much a quotation as an outlook…….Always work/ think of the greater good and let that guide your decisions.