As part of getting to know your Az4Education Board and folks behind the scenes, we are going to write a little bit about ourselves. Since I like to blog, I get to go first. I plan on going over a few things about me, why I got interested in Az4Education and what I would like to see in the future. This by far is not an easy exercise for most people, I am included in the most.
Hello! My name is Steve Bell. For most of my adult life, I have worked at Intel Corporation (28.5 years to be exact). I joined Intel in May 1982 and retired January 2011. That is definitely a long time with one employer. I pretty much grew up within Intel. I have held various management positions throughout the company that include manufacturing, quality assurance and information technology. For me, leading team is something that I am very passionate about. I truly enjoy working with people, motivating and leading my teams to go to great lengths to accomplish some amazing stuff. Sports have been a big part of my life. Growing up, I played football, soccer, basketball and baseball. I know that playing those sports really helped shape my drive for leading. I know have two adult children that were interested in sports as well. So, like most parents, you get to get into coaching. Coaching is like leading and I loved it. I coached for well over 20 years in youth sports (mainly ice hockey and girls’ fast pitch softball. I held positions with Arizona High School Hockey, a non-profit aimed at administration of high school club ice hockey. The coaching career is now over, but may come out of retirement to help coach my grand children. There is much more to put in, but I think this covers a good portion of who is Steve.
Why I got interested in Az4Education? When I started to think about retiring and what I was going to do with my “second” life, I really focused in on wanting to do something worthwhile for children. I have coached many, participated in committees, voted to boards and volunteer. I feel that some of my best times (outside of my family) are when I get to see smiling faces that accomplish some great things. I really worry about what is happening today and what the future may bring. So, I want to try and make a difference. My focus has been working to provide the youth of our area with my experiences and help them with giving my expertise and time to provide them with choices or something better. When I looked at what Az4Education is trying to do, I felt this was the organization for me. Az4Education is a very small group, that is passionate for providing choice. It would have been easier to get involved with the larger STO’s, but I felt that this organization was focused in the right place. It wasn’t about providing a salary for those that participate. It wasn’t about being in political office. It was about providing scholarships to worthy students to get a private school education. Like Lebron James said about going to South Beach, I took my talents to Az4Education. I help focus on marketing (especially in the areas of social media). Our overhead is extremely low, as we don’t go out to spend much. With my help in social media, we continue to focus on the “free” and extremely low cost alternatives. What we need are more donations. More money in, more money out to the students.
What I want to see in the future? I want to see Az4Education become a larger player in the Arizona STO landscape. I like the personal touch that the organization provides. I know that I am not in this for the money. If there was ever enough where I was to be given any compensation, I would politely say; “No thanks, give it to additional students!” I am hoping that the worthy students that we have provided scholarships for, accomplish great things. I hope that they will make sure that the future is brighter than we think it may will be. I want a better tomorrow! One of the ways to make that happen is helping the youth of today, get what is needed for success tomorrow. Count me in. Wait, I am already in.
So, as we at Az4Education like to say, “Help a child out!”
