Jolynn was born in a small community of 600 people in western Nebraska called Rushville.Her parents worked for the government in various positions.In 1963 her father had the opportunity to work at one of the unlikeliest places you can think of which was the Litchfield Navy Base right here in the Valley next to Luke Air Force Base.Why the Navy had a base in the middle of the desert is anyone’s guess, but that is what brought Jolynn and the rest of her family to our area. After graduating from the newly-opened Trevor Browne High School in west Phoenix, she enrolled at Glendale Community College where she completed her first two years of college and then moved onto Grand Canyon University where she met her husband of 43 years, Steve Clarke.Steve and Jolynn completed their undergraduate degrees together through Ottawa University online when online learning was in its infancy.

 

Jolynn and Steve would go on to share many more things in their lives including getting their Masters degrees together at the University of Phoenix, teaching for Scottsdale Community College & University of Phoenix, and both working at Salt River Project (SRP).Before they would settle in Scottsdale however, they lived a few years in the small northern Arizona town of St. Johns.Steve was working for SRP in public relations and Jolynn went to work for Arizona Child Protective Services before joining SRP in 1983 as an entry level clerk. They had the opportunity to move back to the valley in 1986 to be closer to family and settled in Scottsdale where Steve had two young children, Kimberly and Stephen from a previous marriage, that Jolynn is proud to call her own. The kids have gone on to start families of their own making Steve and Jolynn grandparents and great grandparents.

 

At SRP, Jolynn did everything from managing the Talent Acquisition department, to training all levels of SRP employees, to running the corporate mentoring program. She is grateful that her parents encouraged her, and her siblings, to be problem solvers and to step into new challenges.A great example of that is when SRP asked her to take on a program that would train newly minted engineers how to work and communicate in the SRP culture.She adapted the learning model she learned in Scottsdale Leadership’s Core Program.

 

Over the years, SRP has been a great asset to Scottsdale Leadership.They have provided the means and opportunity for many of their key employees to go through the program.In 1995 it was Jolynn’s turn to keep that tradition alive.She applied to the program and was accepted into Scottsdale Leadership Class “perfect” 10.She loved learning all about Scottsdale and meeting her classmates and other alumni.She was so impressed by our organization that she stayed on as a Program Day Chair, then Core Program Chair, and then President.

 

After her term on the board was over, Jolynn stepped away from an active role in our organization for almost 20 years.She wanted to focus on her family and her job and was quite content to be in the background again.What we had not realized though, until she reminded us, was that her husband Steve also went through Scottsdale Leadership.In fact, he applied and was accepted into Class 11 just a year later.Jolynn had told him all about the really cool things she was learning and he wanted to experience those same things himself.

 

Life goes on of course, and Jolynn and Steve continued working and enjoying their family.Steve left SRP in 1991 to start his own consulting company, and Jolynn stayed with SRP until 2018 having served that corporation for 35 years.

 

We mentioned earlier that Jolynn never really considered herself an extrovert.So, in retirement, it took her a while to find new things she was interested in and comfortable doing.When she was ready to re-engage it was natural to reach out to Scottsdale Leadership programs.Teaching and training were skills she could contribute.A lesson she learned was that after her 20-year hiatus, no one remembered her previous involvement or contributions.As she says, “why would they?”She was now an unknown quantity and would need to prove herself.So, in 2019, she took on the role of helping to energize some of our Scottsdale Leadership programs.Among other commitees, she is now helping to advance our mentoring efforts – she adapted the mentoring model from SRP.Jolynn has found her place again with Scottsdale Leadership, and we are very happy she is back.

 

As we finished up our time with Jolynn, we all agreed that even after all this time, a lot of us still have a lot of gas in our tanks to keep going.We wondered how many other retired Scottsdale Leadership alumni feel the same way.She is determined to make Scottsdale Leadership an easy, safe place for anyone who is looking for a place to serve.If she can get beyond her inherent shyness, then she figures anyone can.Jolynn did pass along one piece of advice that she learned along the way, and that is to not wait to be asked to join an effort to help out.You might be an unknown quantity, so be persistent.There is a place for everyone.Just volunteer and do it.Scottsdale Leadership’s current board and staff are all over this effort now, and Jolynn is right there helping to make that happen.Who knows where the efforts of these new volunteers could lead us to in the future.