Giving Time to Charitie
Q&A with Charitie Herbst
In June, Charitie Herbst was named Manager of Community Solutions at Sourcewell. Despite the new title and role, Charitie isn't new to the organization. We had an opportunity to sit down and ask Charitie a few questions to help members get to know her a little bit better.
Q: Congratulations on your new position at Sourcewell, Charitie! For those who haven't already met you, tell us a little bit about yourself.
A: I grew up in the small town of Theilman in southeastern Minnesota. After I received my bachelor's degree in Management from the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph (Minn.) I worked in the insurance industry handling claims and, later, as a paralegal.
My family and I moved to Sartell and I worked as a paralegal for the Stearns County Attorney's Office for six years. Four years ago, I came to Sourcewell as the regional county contract coordinator, managing social services contracts for the five-county area. I was also the Coordinator for the Region V+ Adult Mental Health Initiative.
In December of 2019, I obtained my MBA and learned many leadership and professional skills that will assist me in this new role. My husband, Adam, works at Saint John's University and we have two children. Ellen is 14 and Frankie is 10 and they keep us busy with activities. We enjoy the outdoors and time with our family and friends outside of school, work, and other activities.
All of these personal and professional experiences have molded me into who I am today and I'm excited about the opportunity to work with, and lead, this team.
Q: What does a Manager of Community Solutions do and what will you bring to the table?
A: This position leads, supervises, and manages our team as well as assists in the development, implementation, and coordination of the many programs and services we offer our members.
I am looking forward to working with our members and community partners to identify and implement programs and services in our region. I am a relationship builder and believe that relationships are created out of mutual respect and trust. I look forward to getting to know our members better and working with the team to continue providing exceptional service and programs.
Q: How can local governments and nonprofits benefit from what your team has to offer?
A: Our team offers many services to assist local governments and nonprofits become more efficient and effective. We are a dedicated group of professionals trained to serve our communities, collaborating with our members to help them achieve results.
We proudly offer a variety of programming, including community development services, adult foster care and family child care licensing, internships, and other important services cities and counties can utilize. We all work together to identify professional development opportunities and additional programs to help save our members and partners time and resources.
With the support of Sourcewell, we are also able to provide funding opportunities for our members and partners in the five-county service area.
Q: What are a few of the priorities on your list as you take this new position?
A: I have worked closely with the five counties in our service area over the past four years. I am looking forward to continuing to serve them, but one of my priorities is getting to know the leaders of our cities and nonprofits. Sourcewell also offers members and partners a great deal of support through programs and services, and I am looking forward to taking a deep dive into learning even more about each of those.
Q: Seek. Empower. Impact. How does your team live out each of these key Sourcewell values?
A: Our team lives out the key Sourcewell values of seek, empower, and impact by showing up! We are consistently out in our communities providing services to assist our members and partners. We are all very service-minded and strive to create positive and lasting relationships with the communities we work with and in.
We are often behind-the-scenes assisting our community partners with projects and empowering them to achieve their goals. We all strive to make an impact in our communities, and we will continue to work with our community partners to identify additional ways we can help.