Meet the Board: Carole Lehn

Connection to NWC Growing up in the Twin Cities, Carole Lehn remembers listening to KTIS on the radio in her home and attending events at Northwestern. After she and her husband sold a restaurant business (Chickadee Cottage in Woodbury, Minn.), she was looking for ways to get involved in the community and give back, so when she was invited to join the Northwestern College Board of Trustees it was a natural fit. Education/Career Lehn holds a B.S. in math and economics from Wheaton College and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. She worked for West Publishing (Now Thomson Reuters) for 13 years. “I started as a cost accountant and worked my way up through the finance area and was very involved in the sale of the company in 1996,” Lehn recounted. “I stayed on for another three years after the sale and ended up as VP of finance for the Westlaw division.” She now does part-time management consulting work as she focuses on her favorite job ever: raising her children. Family and Interests Married to Joe Lehn for 21 years, they are parents of four kids, ages 10 to 17, who “are involved in every sport under the sun,” Lehn quipped. “I spend a lot of time driving carpool and cheering at events.”   One treasured family activity is an annual bake sale. “This will be our tenth year,” she said. “We take orders for banana bread, fudge, pies, etc., in November and bake and deliver items according to customers’ schedules.” The project began when they collected spare change to buy a goat through World Vision and has now expanded to earn more than $1,500 for World Vision each year. “I wanted my kids to invest something besides quarters and nickels, and now it’s a major part of our tradition at holiday times, to give something of themselves that costs them something—their time.” Vision for NWC Lehn sees Northwestern’s commitment to Christ as its cornerstone now and in the future. She also believes flexibility is a key for the future. “We want to be able to meet the needs of students in whatever their circumstance—on campus, online or through blended learning,” she said. “We need to provide ways for learners to experience our passion for Christ in ways that are meaningful to them.”   She is grateful Northwestern will be part of her children’s college search process. “Knowing the leadership of Northwestern, its Christ-centered mission and core values assure me that it is a place where my children would thrive and develop their potential. It will be on the short list for our college searches.”