By Megan Tamte C鈥�95
Member, Board of Trustees
As I think about the future of North Park and its mission to prepare students for lives of significance and service, l immediately start dreaming about how the University can deepen its commitment to the next generation of leaders.
Every North Park student has the power to influence others and the potential to make the world a better place. In the coming years, I would love for North Park to devote even more resources to preparing students to become leaders who add value to the world and create positive change. Perhaps North Park could create a leadership institute that builds partnerships, shares ideas, cultivates powerful conversations that help students to realize their vision, and teaches them how to lead through mentorship programs, leadership skill development, and inspiring speaker events.
Smart and purpose-driven leaders are in high demand, and North Park has a unique power and presence鈥攁s a Christian university located in the city of Chicago鈥攖o shape future leaders. We can inspire and challenge students to think about how they will make their work matter, transform lives for good, and lead through empathy, humility, and love, no matter what vocation they choose.
As members of a Christian university community, our students are able to see that work and faith can be connected and that, in addition to churches and mission fields, our office buildings, retail stores, banks, and theaters can become sacred, holy spaces that serve others and offer Christ鈥檚 love.
With the role of women dramatically changing in recent years and with more women in leadership positions, I see an exciting opportunity for North Park to become a leader within the Christian university community in equipping young women. I鈥檇 like to see North Park seriously consider creating a center for women in leadership that brings training and opportunity to young women and helps them find their voice, 鈥渓ean in,鈥� and close the confidence gap so they can thrive in the workplace, advance in their careers, and influence for good.
Imagine North Park leaning into a generation of leaders to inspire and prepare them to use the unique talents they have been given to honor God, love others, and be part of transforming families, communities, churches, workplaces, and the world for Christ.
Megan Tamte C’95 is the co-founder and CEO of Evereve, a contemporary retail brand that inspires moms to realize and embrace their power and beauty. Megan and her husband, Mike Tamte C鈥�93, launched the enterprise in Edina, Minn., in 2004 with a first store called Hot Mama. Rebranded as Evereve in 2014, the company now has 63 brick-and-mortar stores across the country, a growing e-commerce business (evereve.com), and a styling subscription service for moms called Trendsend (trendsend.com). Megan received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Retail Award, Upper Midwest Region, and is a member of Young Presidents鈥� Association (YPO).