What are your goals in your role at your company?
My goal as director is to create and promote awareness around our mission and services. In an ideal world, everyone in Iowa would know about Amanda the Panda and access the free community services that we offer.

What are your goals for community involvement?
As the alumni chair-elect for the GDMLI board, I’m excited about how we are challenging our alumni base to engage in conversations about equity in our community. We know there are many different types of leaders, and I am proud to be a part of an organization challenging the status quo.

What’s your biggest passion, and why?
My passion is centered around making our community more equitable, more inclusive, and in general, just helping to improve the health and well-being for everyone in Central Iowa. I firmly believe that collectively we are only as strong as our most vulnerable neighbors in need.

What is it that drives you?
The beauty of my work is that I get to see the fruits of my labor almost immediately. In the same breath, I know that any errors in my work can cause greater hardship during a time that individuals are already in need, which is painful to watch but a strong motivator for me to constantly be better. I consistently challenge myself to do better and be better because I think there is always opportunity to grow and improve.
  
What are your future aspirations?
To be the next Norene Mostkoff. Norene is passionate about health care, about being a leader and empowering other women, and challenging the wrongs that occur on a big and small scale (even when it’s incredibly unpopular). One day I would love to be the executive director or CEO for a health care organization in Des Moines. 

Reasons she’s a Forty:

1.) Mollie serves on two community boards and has volunteered since 2014 as a mentor for Everybody Wins! Iowa.
2.) She has served as director at Amanda the Panda since 2015.
3.) She received the Master of Public Health Opportunity Award at the University of Iowa for excellence in classroom studies and work in underserved populations.
4.) She is a graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute Class of 2016.

See all 2018 honorees