Jordan Engel

Business manager

YMCA of the Greater Tri-Cities

Age: 35

Current city of residence: Kennewick

How long have you lived in the Tri-Cities?

35 years, except for college.

Briefly describe your company:

The YMCA is a nonprofit mission-driven organization. We provide programs for the betterment of our participants, families and our community. The majority of our programs focus on helping children to reach their full potential through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, such as early learning, school-age child care and camps, youth sports and an outreach center in east Pasco. We make a positive impact on the people we serve every day. Our YMCA was established in 1956 and has been a beacon in our community ever since.

How long have you worked there? 18 years

Education: Please list any degrees and professional certifications.

Bachelor's in marketing.

Bachelor's in human resources with an emphasis on management.

SHRM-SCP (Society of Human Resource Management - Senior Certified Professional) certified praesidium guardian. This certification is focused on child abuse prevention.

Organizational leader certification. This certification is through YMCA of the USA and is designed to prepare staff as they transition into organizational leadership roles. This certification is a requirement to be a CEO at a YMCA.

Briefly describe your job and how you got into it:

I like to help and serve others. I started working for the YMCA when I was 16. I have held many different positions within the Y throughout that time. After graduating college, I came back to work at the Y until I found my "real job." After working hard and helping out every way I could, stepping in and handling any issues that arose, I found myself in the position of school-age child care director, my first full-time exempt position. While working in this position, I proved myself to have an extraordinary work ethic and a great acumen with numbers. In 2015 when our business manager began to consider retiring, the search for her replacement began. Through the relationships that I had built with my co-workers and leadership, they came to me with a proposition. Work with our current business manager as she retires, to be shown all that her position entails, and move into the role. After shadowing her and learning all aspects of the department, including financial, human resources and a good dose of IT administration, I took over the position full time in 2016.

I oversee all the HR functions for our organization, including the complete employee life cycle; recruiting, onboarding, payroll, compliance, compensation, benefits, learning and development, employee relations, etc. Another main function is overseeing finance and accounting for the organization, including budgeting, monthly financials, annual audit, quarterly reports, and preparing our 990, which is a financial report required by the IRS for nonprofits. I also work with our board of directors in multiple capacities. I lead our Finance Committee and Youth Protection Committee. I am also the recording secretary for the board. I'm heavily involved in our strategic planning initiatives. Additionally, I help out wherever needed, whether that is stepping into a preschool classroom or plunging toilets - however I can help and serve.

How did you earn your first dollar?

The first dollar I ever earned was for doing chores around the house. The first work dollar I ever earned was when I was 16, and I started at the YMCA as a sports site supervisor.

What advice would you give to your younger self about achieving success?

Focus on helping others and being a servant leader. Care about others more than being focused on yourself and your career trajectory. Do the best job you can at everything you do. It's OK to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. As long as you do these things success will come.

What was your dream job as a child?

I always liked and was fascinated by business and always wanted to do something to help people. My dream job as a child was to help others, through teaching or counseling.

I have found that amazing balance with the YMCA, being on the business and operations side of an organization that has a positive impact on our participants and our greater community as a whole.

What would make our community a better place to live?

Less traffic! But on a more serious note, I think the best way to make our community a better place in the long run is to invest in the youth in our community. I want the Tri-Cities to be a place where all children receive the education and resources needed to grow up happy and healthy and become well-rounded individuals who are able to join the workforce and in turn continue to improve our community. I'm excited by the different ways that the Y can potentially help in these areas. As the needs in our community change and grow, so does the potential impact that we can have. I'm excited about the possibilities.

What would be your top 3 priorities to make our community a better place?

Financial literacy. In order for youth to get out of school and join the workforce successfully, I believe they need to understand money and basic financial principles.

More healthy living activities for youth. Sports fields/facilities get filled up quickly, and finding indoor space in the winter is very difficult. Having more sports fields/facilities would allow for more kids to be able to participate.

More non-sports youth development activities for youth, including STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math), music, crafts, etc.

If you had unlimited time, what volunteer work would you be interested in doing?

I am currently the treasurer on the Columbia Basin SHRM Board, a nonprofit whose mission is to support and advance the human resources profession with a particular emphasis on the human resource professionals living or working within the Tri-Cities and surrounding area. With unlimited time I would dedicate more time to this work and serve on the Washington State SHRM Council.

I would also like to help individuals with financial literacy, specifically focused on youth, elementary to high school. Everyone leaving high school should have a basic understanding of finances and be able to fill out the required paperwork to get a job, such as I-9 and W-4 forms.

How do you achieve work-life balance?

This is something that I have gotten better at but am still working on. I have a tendency to work a lot, but I really enjoy what I do, so it doesn't always feel like work. I make sure to spend plenty of time with my family and friends, traveling when possible. While I'm at work I prioritize tasks by level of importance. I'm not able to get to everything accomplished that I would like to, but by prioritizing them I'm able to get through what is required at that time.

There are a couple of sayings that I really like and try to utilize. The first being, "There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time." There are so many major tasks/projects that can seem overwhelming, but when you break them down into bite- size pieces it becomes significantly more manageable. The second is the idiom "Eat the frog." This productivity method - of taking care of least desirable tasks first - is something that I try to follow. Completing the least desirable tasks to get them out of the way.

Putting them off will not improve the situation. This way when you reach the end of the day/week, you don't have a laundry list of undesirable tasks to do.

The most important part of my work-life balance is having support from my colleagues. They push me to take time off and get out of the office early after a long week. We all care about each other and support each other.

Do you have family? Pets?

I spend a lot of time with my family and friends. Every Friday, we have Friday night dinner at my parents' house. My family and our friends come over to catch up and spend time together. We like to go camping, wine tasting and travel.

What brought you to the Tri-Cities? Did you grow up here?

I was born and raised in the Tri-Cities. I went off to college at the University of Idaho and came back after college. My work at the YMCA and my family and friends are the biggest things keeping me here in the Tri-Cities.

Favorite music?

I mainly listen to podcasts or audiobooks.

Favorite thing to do in Tri-Cities?

Pool time to combat the hot summers.

Favorite snack?

Tapatio Doritos

Would you rather travel back in time or to the future?

Future