15 Oct Corporate to Non-Profit Transition
Pam Stegora-Axberg, CEO of Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities, offers valuable insights on making a successful corporate to non-profit transition through intentional career planning and skill development. With experience at UnitedHealthcare, Optum, and Qwest Communications, Pam brings a unique perspective on making successful career pivots at any stage.
Planning Your Corporate to Non-profit Transition
One of the most critical aspects of a corporate to non-profit transition is recognizing and articulating your transferable skills. However, Pam emphasizes that simply having these skills isn’t enough; you must learn to communicate them effectively.
Understanding Transferable Skills
Pam learned this lesson when transitioning from telecommunications to healthcare. During an interview, she was asked about networks and initially thought of fiber optics and switches, only to realize mid-answer that in healthcare, “network” means physicians, hospitals, and doctors.
Key strategies for showcasing transferable skills:
- Learn the language of your target industry
- Mirror the terminology used by professionals in that field
- Connect the dots yourself; don’t expect interviewers to make the connections
- Translate your experience into relevant examples
For instance, when Pam applied for food-related non-profit work, she reframed her telecommunications experience by explaining how restoring service within 24 hours paralleled delivering perishable food at peak freshness. Similarly, she positioned her customer service expertise as directly applicable to serving people experiencing homelessness.
Strategic Career Planning: The Three-Year Approach
Pam’s corporate to non-profit transition wasn’t overnight. It was intentional and strategic. While serving on non-profit boards, she participated in a CEO search committee and realized she could lead a non-profit organization herself.
Building Qualifications Intentionally
Rather than making an impulsive move, Pam asked herself: “If I wanted to do that, what would I have to be able to do in the next three years to be qualified?”
Her strategic approach included:
- Volunteering on non-profit boards to gain sector knowledge
- Pursuing a public policy fellowship at the Humphrey Institute
- Using volunteer opportunities to develop specific skills
- Positioning herself for a career transition while excelling in her current role
Consequently, when Pam made her move, she could say: “I’ve been doing non-profit as a volunteer. I’d like to shift my volunteer work now into a paid position.”
Career Transition Advice for Different Career Stages
Pam offers practical advice that applies whether you’re early in your career or preparing for a major shift between sectors.
Universal Principles
- Excel in your current role: Don’t become so focused on future opportunities that you neglect your present responsibilities
- Balance current skills with new learning: Look for roles where you can leverage 70% of what you know while learning 30% new skills
- Seek growth opportunities: Choose positions that challenge you and position you for future advancement
Early Career Example
For those seeking people management experience without having supervised anyone yet, Pam suggests:
- Requesting to supervise an intern
- Taking leadership roles in volunteer organizations
- Looking for project leadership opportunities
Mid-Career Example
When Pam moved into clinical operations at Optum, she had strong operational skills but no clinical experience. She leveraged her operations expertise to become the first non-clinician to lead psychiatrists, social workers, and clinical care authorizations. She then committed to learning the clinical side while on the job.
Leadership Style: Learning with Curiosity
Pam’s leadership approach centers on authentic curiosity and team empowerment.
Core Leadership Principles
Curiosity and learning: Pam acknowledges that her team members often know their jobs better than she does. Therefore, she brings genuine curiosity to understand their perspectives and challenges.
Frontline access: Throughout her career she maintains regular contact with frontline staff through:
- Sitting with customer service representatives
- Accompanying technicians during their workday
- Hosting open forums at Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities to hear what’s going well and what isn’t
Team-centered approach: Pam believes leaders should facilitate teams to find solutions together. As she tells new employees: “This starts with the team and ends with the team because I can’t be successful unless the entire team is successful.”
Adaptive Leadership
Moving from UnitedHealthcare’s 3,000 employees and multi-billion-dollar budget to Union Gospel Mission’s 120 employees and $17 million budget required agility. While principles remained constant, Pam learned to adapt her style based on what each situation required:
- Sometimes role modeling specific behaviors
- Sometimes teaching new skills
- Sometimes being patient and letting teams develop their own solutions
- Always remembering that people watch what you do more than what you say
Breaking into Board Service
With experience on boards including YWCA Minneapolis, Girl Scouts, Junior Achievement, and New Brighton City Council, Pam offers concrete strategies for aspiring board members.
Getting Started
Find your passion: Choose organizations that align with your values and interests, especially for non-profit boards where you’re volunteering time, money, and expertise.
Don’t be shy about asking: Pam’s first board experience came from directly contacting CEOs of organizations she cared about and expressing her interest.
Start with committees: You may not immediately land a board seat. Pam volunteered on committees first, which provided valuable experience and visibility.
Multiple Pathways to Board Service
Pam’s path to the YWCA board demonstrates the importance of patience and networking:
- She expressed interest to both the organization and her employer
- When a board member rotated off, her employer recommended her
- The seeds she’d planted led to the opportunity
For Top Line Financial Credit Union, the path was different:
- She ran for an elected position (and didn’t win initially)
- High vote totals led to appointment on the supervisory committee
- The supervisory committee experience led to a board appointment
- As an incumbent, she was then elected
Key insight: Not getting elected the first time wasn’t failure. It was a necessary step toward success.
The Power of Mentoring
As a member of Menttium’s first mentee cohort and an 18-time mentor, Pam exemplifies the transformative power of mentoring relationships.
Why Mentoring Matters
Initially, Pam wanted to give back after benefiting from mentorship. However, her perspective evolved. Pam emphasizes: “I think I get as much out of the mentorship as what I think that I give to it.” This reciprocal learning explains why she’s made mentoring a consistent priority throughout her career.
Benefits for mentors:
- Learning about different industries
- Gaining new insights and perspectives
- Discovering how your own thinking has evolved
- Building meaningful friendships
- Challenging your assumptions
Conclusion: Making Your Corporate to Non-profit Transition Successful
Pam Stegora-Axberg’s career journey demonstrates that a successful corporate to non-profit transition requires intentional planning, continuous skill development, and the ability to articulate your value in new contexts. Moreover, whether you’re moving between industries, sectors, or leadership levels, the principles remain consistent: excel in your current role, learn the language of your target field, and never stop growing.
By combining strategic thinking with authentic curiosity and a commitment to serving others, both through leadership and mentoring, Pam has created a career that spans telecommunications, healthcare, and non-profit leadership while making meaningful impact at every stage.
For anyone considering a career transition or seeking to grow as a leader, Pam’s advice is clear: be intentional about developing skills, don’t expect others to connect the dots for you, and remember that every experience, even setbacks, can be a stepping stone to your goals.
About Pam Stegora-Axberg
Pam Stegora-Axberg is the CEO of Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities, where she leads an organization dedicated to providing life-transforming pathways for people experiencing homelessness, hunger, and addiction. Before her corporate to non-profit transition, Pam served as an executive at UnitedHealthcare and Optum, and spent 20 years in telecommunications at Qwest Communications (formerly US West). She has extensive board experience with organizations including YWCA Minneapolis, Girl Scouts River Valleys, and Top Line Financial Credit Union.
Pam’s leadership has been recognized through awards including the YWCA 2023 Kate Berman Leadership Award and the Women’s Health Leadership Trust 2019 Mentor of the Year Award. As a member of Menttium’s inaugural mentee cohort, she has served as an 18-time mentor, demonstrating her commitment to developing future leaders.