Author Judy Foley talks about why giving back is important to her and what she has learned is vitally important when choosing how and where to give your support.

Tell us a little about yourself!

I have a wonderful ex-husband who has supported me throughout our 40 years. Our biggest blessings have been our three children. Kevin and I always had it on our hit list to take our children to Ireland. We were blessed to share our heritage with all of them and see a beautiful country together. We as a family still celebrate the holidays together every year as what could be more important than family? I love to snow ski, biking, seeing plays, reading and creating amazing new memories to last a lifetime with family.

I am excited to recently have achieved an award from the Daily Herald for Influential Women in Business 2019. I was honored with 20 other women in the Chicago area. I recently wrote a book RETALIATION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL: Why CEOs, Boards for Directors and HR need to change the culture.  This book focuses on my personal story of sex discrimination, harassment and retaliation, features a lawyer, psychologist and trauma expert, best practices from EEOC on harassment, and best practices for board of directors and call to action. The book addresses my pain from suffering through harassment and retaliation plus lessons learned that will help others going through this. I needed to help make sure other women and men do not go through what I did.

I am the Founder and CEO for the Culture of Trust focused on culture, strategy and leadership. I’m also the CEO for Navigate Transformation focused on Supply Chain and Operations transformation. I enjoy working in many industries with large corporations, private equity and privately owned. 

You are on the board for many organizations and companies. Why is it important to you to give back in this way?

I enjoy working with the Norwegian American Hospital Foundation as the hospital provides high quality and compassionate health care services by partnering with patients and their families, employees, physicians, and the communities served. 

I enjoy working with The Bridge Group and helping entrepreneurs grow their business and prioritize opportunities. I am a co-founder with Robert Johnson for The Bridge Group. Robert Johnson was responsible for workers compensation globally and became the Franchise Relations Officer for McDonald’s. He saw in me my entrepreneurial skills and suggested we establish this organization. We benchmarked an organization in Atlanta, which has allowed me to utilize my passion of helping businesses and people become all they can be. The Bridge Group allowed me to develop and expand skills for businesses at a time where I was working to recover from sexual discrimination, harassment, and retaliation from a large corporation.

What is your favorite part about giving back? 

My “WHY” is about working with people and companies to achieve their desires and results at the highest level. I determined my why through Simon Sinek’s book, Start with Why, and discovered through the years what I enjoyed in my work. I love making a difference for people, companies, and boards of directors. 

Is there more to giving back than just a monetary donation?

I have found you must believe in the cause to give of your money, time, and achieve results. I went to an executive women’s event and a woman asked for anyone interested in being on boards to stop by and see her. I was the only one that came to see her and I was on a Board of Directors for the YWCA within a couple of months. I reached out to a neighbor that was a VP at Allstate to ask him about his board of directors’ experience. His advice was, “you need to have passion around the mission and cause.”

I have been a chair for committees such as an audit committee and nomination committee along with been a part of the finance committee. Being on a committee allows you to make a difference for the organization where you have expertise and develop new skills by being there.

If you can’t give financially, what are some other ways to support the organizations that have enriched your life?

I enjoy working with 4word to mentor young women to rise to the top in life, faith and work. I love working with Launch X and helping young people develop entrepreneurial skills.

Each of you has the capability to contribute to a board of directors or organization by giving back with your expertise and skills to make a difference. Choose an organization whose mission you believe in and have passion around so you enjoy every moment you contribute. Your time is worth it.

Judy Foley is the founder of The Culture of Trust, a company focused on culture, leadership, and strategy with expertise in speaking, coaching, consulting, and training leaders on organizational transformational strategies, process improvement, and best practices. She is author of the book on Why CEOs, Boards of Directors and HR need to change the culture. She is also a contributing author of the new book Total Woman. She is certified in Women’s Issues, Diversity and Inclusion plus international entrepreneur coaching through the Professional Women’s Network, expertise in sexual harassment training, coaching and consulting, and is a member of the PWN International Speakers Bureau. 

Judy is the founder of Navigate Transformation, a company focused on accelerating growth and achieving competitive advantage through transformational change in supply chain and operations. Judy’s track record of creating competitive advantages and bottom-line impact for industry-leading enterprises included roles at Motorola, Allstate, CNA, and PRGX/Kraft Foods and mid-market companies including private equity and family owned businesses. Noteworthy throughout her career has been establishing cost savings, cash flow improvements, process reengineering and defining critical key performance indicators (KPI’s). Her industry sector credentials include manufacturing, telecommunications/technology, insurance/financial, consumer products (CPG), automotive, healthcare, chemical, non-profit and consulting. Her credentials include hands-on operational experience working with boards of directors and c-level executives on strategy and transformation.

Active in the community, serves on a number of boards and committees including LaunchX at Northwestern University, a program that taps into the potential of ambitious high school students, supporting them through the process of launching startups. She finds it exciting to help others achieve their dreams and make our world a better place, as the youth are our future!

Judy resides in the Chicago suburbs. She is blessed to have 2 sons, 1 daughter and ex-husband who supported her through tough experiences and challenges.