Thanks to the incredible work ethic and dedication of Allie Kibler-Campbell, advocacy for children who are, or will become, victims of abuse or neglect, is gaining support with every passing day. Serving as the first ever Outreach Program Manager for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Michigan, Allie had literally built her powerhouse program from the ground up, having started with virtually nothing. As the mastermind creator of her truly one-of-a-kind program in the community, Allie has crafted a plan to maximize the outreach and help get the message to more than 5,000 students across Berrien County and keep growing from there. Thanks to her training, she touches a large majority of students in Berrien County, and has also started training students in neighboring counties. She did it all from scratch. There was no existing program for her to follow a laid-out path, making her performance all the more unique and profound. Aside from the impact she has directly on the students, she has also taken up training educators, administrators, church groups, and foster parents to help identify and report child abuse and neglect. Her work to garner grants to help fund the efforts over the last three years has pulled in nearly a quarter-million dollars to advance the program and bring on a second prevention staff member. Allie’s nominator writes, “She is an advocate for children and always speaks up on their behalf when they might not be able to. She brings tough discussions to the surface to address deeper-rooted problems.” Learn more about this powerful dynamo effecting change every day as a Bold Woman of Business for 2022 when you read on.
Name
Allie Kibler-Campbell
Where do you live?
Benton Harbor, MI
Company or Organization
Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Michigan
What is your job or role there?
Abuse Prevention and Outreach Supervisor
How do you think that Bold Women of Business demonstrate being bold?
By being someone who innovates and problem-solves to achieve her goals. She can lead, but at the same time, she isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves to get things done. I think this also takes humility, with confidence, and a conviction in her mission.
Bold women are often defined by a number of descriptors. Please choose from the following descriptors to produce the top three that you would say most exemplify your personality?
Confident…Valiant…Distinctive
Please provide an example of when you feel you were at your very best in taking action on the job or in your role.
I was hired as the first person in my role at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Michigan. I take pride in the work I do, and the reputation of this program is deeply important to me. With the support of our Board and Executive Director, I was able to build a program that, after 4.5 years, reaches thousands of children every year in our community, and continues to grow year after year. This meant my role quickly expanded from learning curriculum and lesson facilitation to fund development, curriculum development, outreach, social media, community partnerships, and connecting schools with resources for students in need. The diversity and vast reach of this program is something I have afforded a lot of effort, planning, and consideration towards. This past summer, we acquired the funds to hire another prevention staff member to continue to move towards the goal of providing abuse prevention education to every student in the county every school year!
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened on your road to success?
I can’t say I can pinpoint one thing that is the funniest, but because this role is focused on topics surrounding the abuse and maltreatment of children, it is of utmost importance that I find humor in the day-to-day. The smart and humorous children I meet in schools are often that source. After one particularly unruly 3rd grade classroom, the teacher made all her students write apology letters to me for their behavior when a guest speaker (me) was in their classroom. While I appreciated the lesson the teacher was trying to portray, I certainly didn’t need any apologies. However, because these letters were written by 3rd graders, they were quite amusing. My favorite was the student who wrote, “I’m sorry my class was so bad, you were just trying to do your job.” I think picturing those words coming from a young child are what made it so comical…it was very sweet and made me laugh!
Who most inspires your personal drive for success every day?
The children in our community inspire me. Particularly, the 1-in-7 who have experienced abuse or neglect in the last year, the 1-in-10 who will be victims of sexual abuse before their 18th birthday, the 1-in-3 who will be sexually solicited online, the 1-in-3 teens who will abused by a dating partner, and the brave children who disclose their abuse to me after I presented in their class. I am inspired by their courage and resilience, and that pushes me to advocate for those in need.
All children deserve the right to grow up free from abuse, safe, happy, and healthy. I don’t take lightly the impact these programs can have on individuals and our community. Being able to offer prevention strategies, safety, hope, and healing to all children is what pushes me to give my all every day.
What is your best advice to women in Southwest Michigan looking to succeed, as you have, in business?
You define your own success and achieving that takes balance. Be strong and assertive; yet listen and be flexible. Be willing to compromise. Work hard…but enjoy your life outside of work! Put in the extra effort while knowing your limits. Be humble, yet confident. Celebrate the small victories and learn from your mistakes. Finally, always be kind and lift up those around you.
What does your selection to the ranks of the Bold Women of Business from Moody on the Market mean to you?
It is an honor to be recognized alongside the other Bold Women of business! I feel it necessary to extend this recognition to those who have helped me along the way. I am sure, for each of us receiving this award, there are countless others who came before us and/or helped us along the way. In life, my work ethic and attention to detail is a direct reflection of what I learned from the most dedicated and determined woman I know, my mother, Charmaine Kibler.
In my current role, I am grateful to work with a team of Bold Women at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southwest Michigan. With hearts of gold and backbones of steel–to stand alongside children healing from trauma and abuse–we all rely on each other, and I owe much of this recognition to them!
