Prescott LIVING Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Prescott LIVING Magazine - Click for Current Issue
  • Inside
    • Voices
    • Special Sections
      • 40 Under 40
      • Annual Photo Contest
        • People’s Choice Photo Winners
      • Best of Greater Prescott
      • Everyone Can Be a Hero
      • Holiday
      • Medical, Health & Wellness
      • Men of Vision
      • New Year, New You
      • Relocation
      • Wealth Management
      • Weddings & Events
      • Women in Leadership
    • Up Front
      • City Speak
    • BIZ
    • YOU
      • Out & About
      • Beauty & Style
      • Health, Happiness & Education
      • Education
      • Pets
      • Home
        • Home & Garden
    • FUN
      • Arts & Culture
      • Outdoor Adventure
      • Restaurants
        • Pizza
      • Travel & Tourism
    • The ROX Interview
    • Prescott Pioneer Local News
    • Q & A
  • Current Issue
  • Community Calendar
  • Past Issues
  • Subscribe
    • eNewsletter & Digital Edition Subscription
  • Inside
    • Voices
    • Special Sections
      • 40 Under 40
      • Annual Photo Contest
        • People’s Choice Photo Winners
      • Best of Greater Prescott
      • Everyone Can Be a Hero
      • Holiday
      • Medical, Health & Wellness
      • Men of Vision
      • New Year, New You
      • Relocation
      • Wealth Management
      • Weddings & Events
      • Women in Leadership
    • Up Front
      • City Speak
    • BIZ
    • YOU
      • Out & About
      • Beauty & Style
      • Health, Happiness & Education
      • Education
      • Pets
      • Home
        • Home & Garden
    • FUN
      • Arts & Culture
      • Outdoor Adventure
      • Restaurants
        • Pizza
      • Travel & Tourism
    • The ROX Interview
    • Prescott Pioneer Local News
    • Q & A
  • Current Issue
  • Community Calendar
  • Past Issues
  • Subscribe
    • eNewsletter & Digital Edition Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Prescott LIVING Magazine
Prescott LIVING Magazine - Click for Current Issue
Home Special Sections Women in Leadership

WOMEN IN BUSINESS: DR. PENELOPE WILLS

October 3, 2017
325
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

DR. PENELOPE WILLS – President, Yavapai College

“Nobody starts out saying, ‘I want to be a college president,’” Dr. Penelope Wills said with a chuckle. “I would worry about those people.”
But in the seventh year of her presidency at Yavapai College, she wears the role quite well. Part academic, part administrator, part education advocate, she still enjoys meeting new students on campus and learning about their coursework and their plans.
Wills says her achievements – in a field once hostile to women leaders – were never driven by ambition.
“I was really driven by a desire to answer this question: How do I make this life better than I found it?”
At first, she thought the answer was in the stars.
“Originally, I wanted to be an astronaut,” she said.
When her eyesight kept her earthbound, she turned her attention toward helping others.
“My parents were poor – everybody was poor – but my dad and mother always gave back,” Wills said. “You didn’t do it for recognition. You did it because you cared about people.”
Back then, women had three career path choices: “become a nurse, a nun or a teacher,” Wills recalled. “I faint at the sight of blood, and I liked boys. So I went into elementary education.”
In academia, she found her way to give back.
“I love it,” she said. “You’re shaping lives. You challenge students and become partners in their learning.”
She ascended through the ranks – vice president for Student Development at Georgia Highlands College, then president at Northeast Iowa Community College – by keeping an open mind, finding common ground and working together.
“I’ve had women mentors and male mentors,” she said. “You can learn from everybody in your life. I still learn from students every day. You have to be assertive and you have to be strategic. But you also have to be willing to work together.”
Above all, she said, you need passion for your work.
“We always have to remember who we are here for,” Wills said. “We are here for the students.”

Previous Post

WOMEN IN BUSINESS: DONNA WERKING

Next Post

WOMEN IN BUSINESS: MARGO CHRISTENSEN

Next Post

WOMEN IN BUSINESS: MARGO CHRISTENSEN

Join our Newsletter

Prescott LIVING eNewsletter Subscription

No Result
View All Result
Cover for Prescott Living Magazine
11,580
Prescott Living Magazine

Prescott Living Magazine

Come & enjoy the local scene in Prescott Arizona!

Prescott Living Magazine

3 days ago

Prescott Living Magazine
LIVE MUSIC — There's a bluegrass concert happening tonight at the Prescott Rodeo Grounds. The Folk Sessions is presenting AJ Lee & Blue Summit at 7:00 p.m. (Sunday, March 19). Tickets are available online.www.eventbrite.com/e/aj-lee-blue-summit-live-in-concert-tickets-481827056697For more local events pick up a free copy of Prescott NOW magazine in Rox Media magazine racks throughout the area. Events are also listed in the online calendar at www.prescott-now.com/events. ... See MoreSee Less

AJ Lee & Blue Summit! Live in Concert!

www.eventbrite.com

AJ Lee + Blue Summit are pure, beautiful American music. The band are torch bearers of the music that helped build America. - Eric Oblander
View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Prescott Living Magazine

4 days ago

Prescott Living Magazine
OUT & ABOUT — Did you enjoy some live music and drinks on St. Patrick's Day? Thank you to Fernando Mendigutia for sharing these photos taken at The PUB Prescott. Send your St. Patrick's Day photos by email to photos@roxco.com. We'll share them here on our Facebook page and they'll be considered for publication in our next issue. Thank you! ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

It’s About LOCAL – ADVERTISE WITH US

© 2022 ROX Media •  Privacy Policy
info@roxco.com • 130 N. Granite St. • Prescott, AZ 86301 • 928.350.8006
CORPORATE OFFICE: 1919 N. Trekell Rd.,  Suite C •  Casa Grande, AZ 85122

No Result
View All Result
  • Inside
    • Voices
    • Special Sections
      • 40 Under 40
      • Annual Photo Contest
      • Best of Greater Prescott
      • Everyone Can Be a Hero
      • Holiday
      • Medical, Health & Wellness
      • Men of Vision
      • New Year, New You
      • Relocation
      • Wealth Management
      • Weddings & Events
      • Women in Leadership
    • Up Front
      • City Speak
    • BIZ
    • YOU
      • Out & About
      • Beauty & Style
      • Health, Happiness & Education
      • Education
      • Pets
      • Home
    • FUN
      • Arts & Culture
      • Outdoor Adventure
      • Restaurants
      • Travel & Tourism
    • The ROX Interview
    • Prescott Pioneer Local News
    • Q & A
  • Current Issue
  • Community Calendar
  • Past Issues
  • Subscribe
    • eNewsletter & Digital Edition Subscription

© 2022 ROX Media