Power of connection brings Stacey Brodak from energy to education
Compare Stacey Brodak’s career experience to stocks, and the adjective would be ‘diversified’. While the bottom line in stocks is money, for Brodak, it is people.
All of her past positions, from non-profit work to the energy industry and now higher education, have been roles aimed at creating economic development to strengthen the community through building collaborative relationships.
Brodak has been vice president for Institutional Advancement and University Relations with Waynesburg University since 2017.
Born and raised in Greene County, she attended Carmichaels High School, completed her bachelor’s degree at West Virginia University and graduated with an MBA from Waynesburg University. She also has a certificate from Boston College in corporate citizen management.
Brodak began her career with the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau, serving eventually as its executive director until 2007, when she transitioned into the oil and gas industry for nearly 10 years. She served as senior director of corporate development with Chesapeake Energy and later joined Noble Energy as senior advisor for government, community and media relations.
“When you look at it on paper, you wonder, ‘how did she end up in all of these different places?’ but they are all built around creating relationships with people through being the liaison between whomever I’m representing and the local community,” Brodak said.
Her work at Noble actually led her back to the university. “All of my roles (with Noble) were more like external affairs roles, so I was the liaison with the community, and often a big responsibility within that space is engaging with our philanthropic giving and working on projects with the communities.”
When Noble Energy sought volunteer and philanthropic opportunities, Brodak reconnected with the university. “I had the benefit of living in the region, but I never worked for the university outside of being an alum. It became a powerful connection that would lead me into this new realm,” Brodak said. The company shaped and sponsored the freshman orientation program for the next few years.
When Noble left the area in 2016, Brodak brought her skillset to the university, and while she doesn’t directly work with students, the outcome of her efforts improves the experience for them. “In my role with the university, I certainly have contact with the students, but I don’t have a direct role. Mine are more with alumni, marketing, funding raising and making connections in the community for our students and faculty.”
“The university is an economic engine for our region, as most universities are in the communities where they are based. There is always an opportunity to engage with others and identify projects that are mutually beneficial for the university and the community.”
The university’s upcoming 175th anniversary in 2024 opens up opportunities to develop fundraising initiatives with the alumni population. “It’s a huge milestone to build around. For the last nine months, the Institutional Advancement Team has worked on fundraising initiatives, including naming and brick projects. We think the brick project will be really popular among alums and a great way for them to connect with their alma mater and leave their legacy in a different way that I think will be really well received,” Brodak said.
Although born and raised in Greene County, Brodak said she didn’t realize how much the university offered to the local communities. “Many of our guest lectures and art gallery exhibits are open to the public and, of course, sporting events. In the past few years, we have held the Fine Arts Academy, which offers art classes to our local community members. We are always seeking ways to offset this participation cost to keep them very affordable to the community, either free or at a low cost,” She said.
In her external affairs role, Brodak works with many area agencies to build opportunities with community partners to apply for partnership grants that would benefit the region.
“We really try to be a good partner to the agencies in and throughout the region, including the Allegheny Conference, Greene County Commission, Washington County Commission, and our high schools through Intermediate Unit I. We work hard at building those relationships,” said Brodak. As a liaison to these groups, Brodak said they are always looking potentially for shared grant projects that could bring money or recognition or assistance to the region. “Which helps everyone.” Brodak serves on the Greene County Industrial Development Authority and Blueprints boards.
Take the recent connection with Carnegie Mellon, for example, which has brought solutions to the community through hands-on learning.
Shortly before the pandemic, Brodak said the university established a relationship with Carnegie Mellon University through a shared connection with Rick Stafford, public policy professor with CMU, who was born and raised in Waynesburg. The effort focused on “helping us look at ways we could find solutions for some of the challenges we face,” she said. Through a shared class on food insecurity, students conducted interviews with food banks and service agencies in the community to determine if populations in the area could not connect with food sources. The findings led to the donation of a van to the food bank, allowing food to be made available in communities with limited transportation.
Those findings were influential in determining the subsequent study with CMU, under a national Department of Energy grant, to look at transportation needs in Greene County. “The first project highlighted a transportation challenge through discovering this food insecurity, so then we can say ‘ok, let’s look at transportation in rural communities and how is that a limiting factor and what can we do to address it,” said Brodak. The study is looking at what solutions can be implemented to help connect people to the services they need, with three priorities: food, healthcare and work.
“Our office is really the liaison to connect all of the pieces there and help CMU to connect to the different people in our community,” said Brodak. Students under the direction of Dr. Melinda Walls with Waynesburg’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program are conducting the surveys and collecting the data from which a pilot program will be built and tested this summer.
“What a great opportunity for our students to be involved with a national research program connected to CMU, actually working on projects that have a true impact on our community. Our hope is once we do the pilot later this summer, there may be a permanent transportation program, and we will be able to apply for grant funding or work together. We will have the data we need to make a powerful case to impact transportation in Greene County. Going forward, the Department of Energy will have access to the data, and the findings could be implemented in other rural communities.
Brodak quickly points out that “there is no single person who can do the things that we are doing. It’s a team effort. It takes lots of people to make these things happen, and cooperation from the community and their willingness to meet us on these projects.
“I’m so grateful to the university for allowing me to serve in this role,” Brodak said, especially being a native of the area. She finds that especially gratifying.