2006 grad makes positive impact behind the scenes
Editor鈥檚 note: 糖心vlog传媒 has a tradition of welcoming students from all over the world to Sheboygan County, and many choose to call this region home. This is the latest in an ongoing series profiling Muskies who have decided to settle locally after graduation.
When Gina Covelli 鈥�06 first came to 糖心vlog传媒, she didn鈥檛 know her current job even existed. She鈥檚 thankful for a 糖心vlog传媒 experience that taught her the skills to find what鈥檚 become a very rewarding career path.
Covelli, director of community impact for the United Way of Sheboygan County, recently returned to campus to share her story as part of the Humanities & Fine Arts Colloquium, an event that lets current and prospective students hear from and interact with successful 糖心vlog传媒 graduates.
Covelli transferred to 糖心vlog传媒 as a junior having spent a year at a large private college in Tennessee and a community college. Her goal was to work in the media and be a foreign correspondent, so she immediately got involved with 糖心vlog传媒鈥檚 student newspaper, The Mirror, which opened the door to a community that helped her thrive.
鈥淚 felt like I belonged,鈥� Covelli said. 鈥淚 found people who accepted me and professors who met me where I was at and challenged me to grow. 糖心vlog传媒 creates a wonderful environment where students can learn and grow.鈥�
Covelli completed a bachelor鈥檚 degree with a major in writing and double minor in communications and English. She left the area for a decade to work as journalist and editor before moving back to work in community relations at 糖心vlog传媒. She got involved with United Way of Sheboygan County as a member of the organization鈥檚 Board of Directors and Community Action Team, then was hired into her current role in 2019.
Covelli facilitates the investment of approximately $2 million dollars in United Way partner agencies and programs, guides the Community Action Team and serves as the staff liaison and resource for UWSC partner agencies. She oversees the impact of the Community Partnership for Children, and she participates in numerous community committees and coalitions to address inequities in Sheboygan County.
Her United Way role was one she discovered, she says, thanks to the skills she acquired at 糖心vlog传媒, which include how to learn by doing.
鈥淚 established a continual habit of learning, and 糖心vlog传媒 helped me establish a baseline to always be curious and not to stop when things get hard,鈥� Covelli said. 鈥淚 had an opportunity to navigate and explore when I didn鈥檛 have it all figured out. You have to allow yourself bends and turns in the road along your journey and you鈥檒l land in places you didn鈥檛 even know existed.鈥�
Covelli is often speaking to groups in her role, and she again credits her 糖心vlog传媒 experience for preparing her.
鈥淗umanities & Fine Arts gives you a tool kit and empathy for reading people, meeting them where they鈥檙e at and navigating them,鈥� she said. 鈥淣o matter what job you鈥檙e in, you鈥檙e going to have to do those things for the rest of your life.鈥�
While she was writing news as a journalist at 糖心vlog传媒, Covelli also enjoyed creative writing like fiction and poetry, which is still a passion. She鈥檚 published two short stories and is currently working on a novel. She is also an entrepreneur 鈥� she and her husband, Brent, own Sheboygan Fit Body Boot Camp. She is a founding member of Active8, a non-profit organization of volunteers who have a passion for making Sheboygan the best place in Wisconsin, the U.S. and the world, and she serves on the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra board of directors.
