At the Core: Spotlight on Jennifer Sourk

JENNIFER SOURK, GENERAL COUNSEL FOR MIDWEST HEALTH

JENNIFER SOURK
General Counsel
Midwest Health

ABOUT JENNIFER SOURK

Jennifer Sourk earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in 2002, followed by her Juris Doctorate in 2005, and a Master of Business Administration in Business in 2008. Jennifer is married to Grant Sourk, with two children and reside in Topeka.

Jennifer serves as General Counsel for Midwest Health, Inc. where she oversees the legal affairs, strategic business transactions, risk management and compliance for more than 10 years of service with the company.

She is actively engaged with Washburn University by serving as a Regent for the University. She has served in leadership positions as a board member of several community organizations such as Downtown Topeka, Inc., Downtown Topeka Foundation, Topeka Community Foundation, TARC Foundation and a past-president of the Junior League of Topeka reflecting her dedication to philanthropy and community service.

Jennifer also serves on the board of directors for Vision/Community National Bank.

MARTIN: You serve on seven boards. Why did you decide to serve?

SOURK: The board I’ve served the longest is the Washburn Board of Regents. It has exposed me to new things. A lot of what I have in life is because of Washburn University, so I want to give back everything I can to them.

I’m the past chair of Downtown Topeka, Inc., and I’m particularly interested in economic development. My daily job is working on economic development projects like Wheatfield Village, and I want to make sure downtown is as vibrant as it can be.

I’m also the chair of the Topeka Community Foundation. We’re using donations to invest and fund local projects and small businesses, such as Patterson Daycare. We’re are funding housing projects in North Topeka that will house folks that need places to live. It’s fulfilling to help connect those dots and make those projects happen.

MARTIN: Tell me about the challenges you’ve had along the way.

SOURK: Each challenge is different, and that’s what I enjoy. I don’t see the challenges as barriers, I see them as an objective to overcome.

MARTIN: What paved the way for you to say, “I can do all these things.”

SOURK: It’s what fulfills me. Looking back at my education, I came to Washburn not because any of my friends were coming to Washburn, but because I had a mentor in high school who said, “You should look at this university and I think it’s a good fit for you.”

And it really was. Through that experience, I was able to gain more confidence in my intelligence and who I am. I didn’t grow up in a professional household. Gaining that confidence allowed me to grow and move on to the next challenge. You just keep moving forward.

I tell my boys all the time that I have two goals. Number one, keep them alive, which sometimes is difficult. And goal number two is to make them good human beings. If I can show them how to be good community members, that will be instilled in their lives as they grow older.

MARTIN: What motto do you live by?

SOURK: I don’t necessarily live by a motto. I think you just have to be you. If you make a mistake, own it and laugh about it. I am not perfect.

It’s also how you learn. If you can’t challenge yourself to learn more, then it’s not going to lead you down the pathway of fulfillment. That may not be everyone’s passion or drive, but it is for me. I went to law school for me, I didn’t do it for anybody else.

MARTIN: Would you say that becoming a lawyer is your proudest moment?

SOURK: Yes. Since I was in the third grade, I wanted to be a lawyer. My proudest moment is passing the bar exam. It’s one thing to go to law school, but it’s another thing to take the bar exam. My best friend and I shared each other’s [National Conference of Bar Examiners, or NCBE] numbers beforehand, so we knew whether to call in celebration or in tears. We were screaming and jumping up and down in excitement.

MARTIN: What’s your lowest moment?

SOURK: I’m kind of a pick-up-your-bootstraps-and-move-on person. You learn and grow. Has everything been successful? No, but that’s okay.

I don’t know if I’ve ever had a low moment. I’ve had challenging moments. I was let go from my first job as a lawyer. It was the best thing that’s ever happened, but in the moment, it just wasn’t a good fit. I was a young lawyer who didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have a support system within that organization to mentor me. Being unemployed for a few months as a lawyer was scary.

I was 23 or 24 years old at the time and did not know that it wasn’t a good fit, but I learned from that. When I went to look for new positions, I wasn’t going to get myself back in that situation. I landed with the Insurance Commissioner’s office. Being successful there gave me confidence. It was a great fit.

MARTIN: What advice do you have for aspiring leaders who want to move up?

SOURK: Voice your opinions strategically. Don’t stay silent. If you’ve got a good idea, throw it out there, even if it might be outside of your job description. That will make you visible. Show others that you have good ideas and deserve to have a voice in that room.

MARTIN: What advice do you have for women stepping into leadership roles?

SOURK: I think as a female leader, I am often in boardrooms where I’m one of the few women. You have to be — again — strategic about comments, but willing to share. It can be intimidating. I’m often the youngest on the board, too. Even during my Washburn Board of Regents experience, there was a time when I was probably 15 to 20 years younger than anyone else. I’m also 15 to 20 years younger than anyone else on the bank board I serve on.

MARTIN: How did you get the confidence to say, “Hey, my voice matters”?

SOURK: I like to share my story about how I connected with the mayor that appointed me to the Washburn University Board of Regents. I was friends with JoAnn Button, but to be honest, I didn’t really know she was the mayor’s wife. I was just nice to her at work. We became work friends, and there was some dialogue in the community about finding young professionals. She’s the one that threw my name out to the mayor. The next thing you know, I’m being considered for the Washburn Board of Regents. It’s very organic and you never know who’s watching. That’s probably the most important takeaway: be confident and share your ideas, because you don’t know who’s watching.

MARTIN: I loved the story you shared with me about how you traded in your ballet shoes for BB guns.

SOURK: “Every little girl should go to ballet.” I think my mom was on that pathway and signed me up for ballet in first grade. I was terrible. People who know me would not be surprised, but I still made it a good time.

I met someone who coached a BB gun team in Wichita he told me, “Hey, I think you might be interested.” I ventured out one night to look at this BB gun team. I was a third grader at the time, and I picked up my first BB gun and I shot for three or four years. I was nationally ranked for two of those years. I won some medals and scholarships and put away the BB gun when I went to seventh grade.

MARTIN: How do you want people to remember you?

SOURK: Loyal and honest with a great big heart. That’s more than one word. But being recognized for my loyalty is what’s most important to me.

I want to be transparent and loyal, but achieve at the same time. Those attributes are extremely important to me. They’re the attributes that I want my two sons to have when they grow up