Greater Iowa Region (RFO 365) - Glen Hillesland 2008

Glenn Hillesland has been described by many people as a perfect example of a ‘servant leader’. Giving of himself to better others is his passion. He is quiet, humble, and gifted. He isn’t one to join many organizations just for the sake of belonging. He has carefully hand-selected organizations that have the same mission, values and goals that he has. We are so fortunate these organizations include his church and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

Glenn has served as a leader on the Story County Chapter Board; 3 years as Vice President, 1 year as President and, in 2007, as the Thrivent Builds Chapter Specialist. As a VP, Glenn developed leader recruiting protocols that were so successful that he was asked to share them on a national home office training call. As President he was persistent in getting the good works of the Story County Thrivent Chapter in front of the public – including publishing the impact of their charitable works in the county’s newspapers. In 2007, Story County was awarded its first TB home and Glenn volunteered to serve as the TB Specialist. This build was without a Habitat for Humanity Executive Director for part of the year and numerous people from the Habitat affiliate said Glenn was a true blessing for this project. They were continually impressed with his leadership abilities. His background in electrical engineering and experience as college professor was a big plus.

Glenn has been active in supporting many missions over the years, but Glenn’s true calling seemed to be helping local college students…especially students from poorer foreign countries. He has taught English as a second language and provided mentoring to many. His volunteer impact has reached well beyond Story County. One student project stands out in particular. The ‘Kebede Ministry Project’ began when Glenn became involved in helping an agronomy graduate student from Ethiopia. With personal and financial help from Glenn, Kebede finished his doctorate in agronomy at ISU and returned to Ethiopia. Glenn continued to work with this project; including helping drill for fresh water in their village. Kebede is using his agronomy degree to work with the Ethiopian government on a reforestation project with a goal of ending the serious long term drought in their region, thus providing food and improving the local economy. Thrivent members have supported this effort through fund-raisers. We can all agree that the projects Glenn chooses to support exemplify Thrivent’s mission of providing solutions that focus on financial security, wellness and caring for others. Congratulations, Glenn!