Today, we’re putting the spotlight on Erin McArthur, operations manager here at the Women’s Fund of Omaha. Erin joined the Women’s Fund in 2013 after working as a human relations administrator at Fidelity Title National Group.
As operations manager, Erin is responsible for managing all office operations and serves as the staff liaison for the committees of Grants, Ready to Run, Talk of the Town and Circles. Erin has served as a member of the Friends of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. She is currently a New Leaders Council Omaha Fellow, where she also serves as a board member.
We sat down with Erin to ask her a few questions about her experience at the Women’s Fund, and what she likes to do when she’s not managing office operations.
What’s your favorite part of working for the Women’s Fund?
I would say that I’m proud of our mission, and that I love all the staff. We’ve got a really cool staff.
Describe the Women’s Fund in 3 words.
Get Stuff Done.
Best thing about living/working in Omaha?
I think there’s a lot to do, if you look for it. I’ve got a lot of family and friends here, so I have a great network and support system. The weather sucks, but that makes housing affordable. I can buy a house here, I probably couldn’t in California.
I lived in the South for three years, in Charleston, South Carolina and Virginia—it just didn’t mesh. I’m definitely a Midwesterner.
When you’re not working, what’s your favorite thing to do?
Depends on the day, I like to cross-stitch naughty words. It’s something to do while the TV is on, it’s kind of a creative outlet. It doesn’t require a sewing machine and it’s portable.
I’ve given them away as gifts before. The last couple of years, I donated a couple to Planned Parenthood’s silent auction.
What’s one goal you hope to accomplish within the next year?
I want Women’s Fund Circles group to go to the next level, and really get next year’s group invested and involved early on. I want to focus a lot of time and energy on them. The new class will be starting in January 2017. That’s my goal, to make that really happen.
What’s the most interesting or unusual job you’ve ever had?
I worked at a furniture store in South Carolina, and I had to take a hair pick and brush the tassels on the carpets—on the floor. I did it once and never went back. I felt I was above brushing carpet.
I would say my job here has been the most interesting. I get to work with the Circles group and Ready to Run, which is our campaign training for women. I’m now more interested in legislature and policy. The policy work we do is fascinating and I’ve met a lot of interesting people.
What are you reading or listening to these days?
I’m currently to a podcast called “My Dad Wrote a Porno”—which is very funny. It’s about a guy whose dad wrote a porno, and he reads a chapter in each podcast to his friends and they make fun of it.
I have a hard time finding time to read right now, I’m taking a couple of diversity inclusion classes and I have an eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, so there isn’t much time to read outside of that.
As far as music goes, I usually just listen to alternative radio on iTunes.
If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you?
Well Angeline Jolie, ‘cause why not. But while she was still married to Brad Pitt.