Outlook Magazine - Fall 2016

ALUMNI NEWS

NO SLOWING DOWN

Making an Impact Owner of Minneapolis mental health agency named Bush Fellow

Ward spreads his talents as businessman, volunteer, mentor, writer

individuals who are leaders and who can make an impact in their area. Tucker will receive funds to pursue training to increase his impact and to develop a nonprofit agency paralleling Kente Circle. Tucker, with a bachelor’s degree in social work from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., chose to attend UW-Stout and the marriage and family therapy program for its “stellar reputation for training good clinicians, its size and hands-on practice,” he said. The program also was recommended to him by mentor Bruce Minor, M.S.

Bob Ward, left, helps with a Habitat for Humanity building project in China.

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He hopes that his fellow alumni will fall in love with the concept of social tourism — travel with a cause — and join him. For more information, contact Ward at rwardofs@gmail.com or Mesa Covill at 715-232-1259, covillm@uwstout.edu.

ob Ward, ’74, is busier than ever as president and chief marketing officer for Oaks Financial Services in Apple Valley, Minn., trip leader for Habitat for Humanity International, mentor, board member for Stout University Foundation and writer. Ward, who grew up in Whitewater, planned on becoming an industrial education teacher. His sisters, Margaret Ward Whalen, ’66, and Libby Ward, ’72, had attended UW-Stout, and he followed. Ward taught for three years in West Bend but realized his heart was in the business arena. Ward is married to Shelley Sherman Ward, ’75. Shelley, with a degree in fashion merchandising, also experienced a career change of heart. She found business not to be her cup of tea and went into teaching. Ward has held positions with three Fortune 500 companies and one state agency. In 2015 he established the financial planning business Oaks Financial Services. “I love what I do,” he said.’’ Volunteerism part of Ward’s DNA Ward became involved with Habitat for Humanity when he was invited to go on a building trip to El Salvador in 2008. “It was such a powerful experience that I wanted to share it with people I knew and loved,” he said. “My industrial education training at UW-Stout gave me a good background for building.” This summer he participated in his eighth international Habitat for Humanity project — he also has been to Portugal, Argentina, China and Fiji — and is working with the alumni office at UW-Stout to plan a 2017 trip to Malawi, Africa.

“Working and volunteering is part of my DNA,” Ward said.

’87. “It was a good fit and a life changer,” said Tucker, who was impressed by the set-up of the program with its onsite clinic, observation rooms and co-therapy model. “It was a creative, effective way to learn.” The agency, with a similar model as the MFT program, works intentionally but not exclusively with people of color, Tucker explained. The ethnically diverse staff are trained in cultural competence “to be in tune with their own cultural identity,” he said. The firm takes its name from Kente cloth, a brightly colored traditional cloth of the Ashanti people in Ghana. The cloth is “representative of how we see ourselves, the people we serve in therapy and the people we are living with in the communities where we reside. Each person comes with his or her own experiences (colors) in life that tell their story,” according to the agency’s website. Tucker still meets with clients. “My greatest satisfaction is being able to love people, to ignite them, to encourage them and to teach them to love others at the same time,” he said.

Ward’s greatest wish and wildest dream was to have one of his children accompany him on a Habitat for Humanity trip. His dream came true when Shelley, his three children and his son-in- law joined him in Braga, Portugal. “It was one of the highlights of my life,” Ward said. Ward also mentors a 15-year-old boy through Kids ’n Kinship, an affiliate of National Kinship in the Twin Cities area. “It has Ward is a board member of the Stout University Foundation and Hennepin Technical College Foundation. “I always wanted to give back to the university (UW-Stout) where I felt I had a good education,” he said. He feels the need to support educational institutions that offer practical job skills and those that prepare students for jobs that are available, he said. As a result of his travels and enthusiasm for social tourism, Ward is writing the how-to book “Six Continents of Significance: The Joy of Social Tourism,” which will be self-published and released in 2018. taught me to have more patience,” Ward said. Foundation board member and writer

Larry Tucker co-founded and owns Kente Circle mental health agency in Minneapolis.

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rowing up in the inner city of Milwaukee, Larry Tucker, M.S. ’00, never imagined that one day he would have two college degrees and be the owner of a business. However, with support from his community and mentors, he was able to “write a different story” than what might have been. Tucker co-founded and owns Kente Circle, a mental health agency specializing in providing individual, couples, family and group therapy to clientele living in Minneapolis and surrounding communities. He and co-founder J. Philip Rosier, M.S. ’00, started the agency in 2004 with one counselor. Rosier is no longer with the agency. Twelve years later, the agency is thriving with 17 employees and eight interns. Kente Circle also provides training and consulting to agencies interested in enhancing cultural knowledge and experiences for staff and clients. In recognition of his work, Tucker was named a 2016 Bush Fellow by the Bush Foundation. Fellowships are awarded to

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