Finding a Way—With Heart and Precision: Paula’s PEARLS Journey
When Paula first encountered PEARLS, she wasn’t searching for a calling; she was searching for stability after a seismic shift.
It was 2020, in the thick of COVID times. After 27 years in corporate life at Johnson Controls, Paula’s role was downsized. What followed was a year of severance and something rarer than free time, a space to reflect. Space to be with her family. Space to ask what kind of work would actually matter in the next chapter.
“I didn’t start out thinking, this is my why,” Paula admits. “Coming from corporate, nonprofit felt unfamiliar—like it might come with tradeoffs.”
But the role and the mission lingered. One main detail kept tugging at her attention, while the world was isolating kids, PEARLS was intentionally creating connection.
“During COVID, kids weren’t getting socialization,” she says. “PEARLS was doing something about that.”
Paula applied, somewhat tentatively. The interview process was short, but the affirmation was immediate. After reviewing Paula’s project, PEARLS Executive Director Gerry Howze asked a question that still sticks with her:
“Can we hire her right away?”
“That meant a lot,” Paula says. “Especially at a moment when everything felt uncertain.”
She officially joined PEARLS in late 2021. And almost without noticing, her relationship to work changed.
“It didn’t start as my why,” she reflects. “But it absolutely became my why.”
After decades in a corporate environment defined by urgency, hierarchy, and red tape, PEARLS felt human in a way Paula hadn’t experienced before.
“At PEARLS, check-ins aren’t about project status,” she laughs. “They’re about favorite movies or what made you smile this week.”
That shift mattered not just professionally, but personally. As a parent, Paula understood the power of environments that center people first. PEARLS wasn’t just a workplace; it modeled the kind of community she wanted her family to be part of.
And they sure did become part of it.
Over time, Paula’s PEARLS life and home life began to overlap in meaningful ways. Volunteering had always been important to her, through schools, church, and community, but PEARLS offered something new: shared experiences with the girls in PEARLS programming. She attended major events like Mount Olympus and Kalahari not just as staff, but alongside her family. Her husband Tri helped and her children contributed. Her daughter volunteered at events and later reflected on the experience with deeper pride and understanding.
“It’s a family affair,” Paula says. “And I love that my kids can see what I do—and why it matters.”
That visibility became a quiet lesson in service, leadership, and purpose. Not through speeches but through action.
Paula joined PEARLS as a Data Analyst, responsible for attendance and surveys through the organization’s CRM system, Apricot.
“I like to say I took Apricot from being a four-letter word,” she jokes, “and made it something useful and not intimidating.”
But her real contribution quickly revealed itself. Paula doesn’t just manage data entry, she uses her wisdom to interpret it. She sees patterns that lead to strategic questions. She is able to connect the dots across departments that others don’t even realize are related.
Leadership noticed immediately. Within her first six months, her role expanded to Business Data Analyst, reflecting the depth of her thinking and the breadth of her impact. “Data isn’t just about reporting,” Paula explains. “It’s about helping people make better decisions.”
One of the most meaningful aspects of Paula’s work is how directly it reflects girls’ lived experiences. Through attendance tracking, mid-year and end-of-year surveys, and site partner feedback, Paula helps PEARLS listen to the girls and how they are responding to our curriculum.
“We’re consistently seeing 95 to 99 percent of girls say they’d come back or recommend PEARLS,” she notes. “That kind of consistency matters.”
But it’s the open-ended responses that stay with her.
“When I read why girls come back,” Paula says, “the word that keeps coming up is sisterhood.”
For Paula, that word connects everything: the mental health benefits, which is fueled by belonging, creating resilience.
“We may not provide clinical services,” she says, “but we provide safe spaces, trusted adults, and connection. Those are foundational to wellness.”
Looking ahead, Paula can see the big picture and feels energized. Because in Paula’s hands, data isn’t static. It’s not just for grant reporting, or end of year recaps, it’s the connective tissue to actually make sure our mission is aligned with our impact.
If Paula could say one thing to someone considering supporting PEARLS, it would be this:
“When girls win, we all win.”
It’s a belief shaped by decades of work, years of parenting, and four transformative years at PEARLS.
And thanks to Paula’s steady, strategic presence, PEARLS is not just proving its impact, it’s constantly evaluating the current climate of girls’ needs and putting the organization in lockstep, through our curriculum and collaboration, to meet them.
We at PEARLS all benefit tremendously having Paula on our team. Someone whose skills are just as important as the heart-centered approach to their work. Mama P will always ‘Find A Way’!
With gratitude,
The PEARLS Team
