Spotlight on Nancy Reiter

It’s no surprise that the life-changing mentoring relationships of Big Brothers Big Sisters are widely-celebrated and often in the public eye. Less well-known, yet no less essential to the vision that all children succeed in life, are the day-to-day administrative operations that keep the agency running smoothly. Taking on a multi-faceted role as Vice President of Finance and Operations, Nancy Reiter clearly demonstrates the significance of this behind-the-scenes work at BBBS.

A substantial part of Nancy’s work involves overseeing essential financial responsibilities, such as managing cash flow, creating financial and grant reports, reviewing contracts, budgeting, auditing and, everyone’s favorite– managing payroll!

But she deals with more than just numbers.

As human resources manager, Nancy also focuses on the interpersonal needs of the workplace, such as recruiting and staffing, managing employee compensation and benefits, and coordinating workplace education and training.

But wait– there’s more.

On any given day, she might also be found reviewing facility construction plans, coordinating building maintenance or addressing IT issues. She’s even been known to clean popcorn machines.

“Wearing multiple hats is often part of working for a small company,” she laughs.

Although Nancy considers the ‘numbers’ side of her job to be her primary strength, she also appreciates the workplace balance that her human resources responsibilities offer.

“The human resources side of my job is something I have to work a little harder at,” she says, “but I enjoy being challenged.”

One particular challenge she’s taken on since joining BBBS in 2015 has been to address employees’ desires for more workplace training.

As a result, she currently coordinates two educational sessions each month, keeping a very intentional focus on employees’ expressed needs and interests. While one training each month addresses general workplace skills, another focuses more specifically on BBBS’ work with children.

General trainings have concentrated on time-management skills, computer software training and 401K planning, while recent trainings focused on youth have included child development, social-emotional learning and LGBTQ awareness.

In addition to enjoying the challenges of her human resources role, Nancy also feels gratified to see this work leading to tangible, positive outcomes at BBBS. With the additional focus on engaging staff and meeting their needs, employee retention has increased significantly; and in response to positive employee feedback, the Austin Business Journal honored BBBS with a ‘Best Place to Work’ award in 2017.

“I can see the positive impact,” she says,” and I feel really proud to be a part of that.”

Although this behind-the-scenes work at BBBS may draw less public attention than the inspiring stories of Bigs and Littles, without the operational support provided by Nancy and the rest of the administrative team, the life-changing work of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas just wouldn’t be possible.

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