Eastern 2008 Fall : IFC

Geri Polvino ExtraordinaryoutcomEs decades, generating “extraordinary outcomes” with a gift for identifying top performers. As she did for generations of student-athletes, Polvino builds game plans, balances offensive and defensive tactics, helping clients stay focused and engaged–positioned for success. “I’m solution-driven and I was born to teach,” she says. In sports, finance, and in nurturing first gen- eration students, Geri Polvino’s solutions transform lives. When she started Eastern’s volleyball program in 1966, women’s I athletics didn’t get headlines. That changed. In 32 years Polvino compiled a 627-439 record, leading the Colonels to nine season championships, eight league tournament titles and three straight Kentucky Women’s Intercollegiate Conference titles. In 1989, she helped create the prestigious post-season National Invitational Volleyball Championships. Polvino tirelessly recruited, challenged and inspired student-athletes while building support for volleyball. In recognition of these contributions, Geri Polvino was the first volleyball coach inducted into the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame and was elected president of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport’s Coaches Academy. In 1991, Polvino was inducted into Eastern’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni. When she became the first woman instructor certified by the International Volleyball Federation, “Sure I paused, I enjoyed the moment,” Polvino reflects. “Then you move on. It’s all a journey.” In 1997, after retiring from coaching, Dr. Geri Polvino’s journey didn’t take her far: she moved over to Eastern’s College of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics, helping students link sports and life performance strategies. Now at Edward Jones, Polvino spearheads an initiative to recruit and train female financial planners. If you want performers, she says, find n 2001, a few weeks after retiring from EKU, Dr. Geri Polvino, former coach of Eastern’s powerhouse women’s volleyball team, joined the firm of Edward Jones as a financial planner. Surprising career jump? Not really. She had been investing carefully for student-athletes. When Eastern volleyball star and first generation student Kasha Brozek interviewed at Edward Jones, “she was poised and confident. She knew risk analysis, practice and persistence, getting up after failure and finding solutions. Kasha is a true product of sport.” In her “spare time,” Polvino tirelessly promotes Eastern, serving on the Alumni Board, speaking to Rotary and community groups, guiding students to internship and job opportunities, sharing what Eastern is to her: “a sanctuary of ideas, humanity and relevance. I received so much, but to complete the cycle, you give back.” To “give back,” Geri Polvino recently helped the University meet its first-ever comprehensive campaign goal with a generous three-part planned gift commitment to EKU. Her estate pledge will first bolster an existing scholarship named for her parents: The Russell T. and Josephine B. Polvino Endowed Women’s Volleyball and Softball Fund. Next, The Dr. Geri Polvino Endowed Women and Gender Studies Fund will support Eastern’s multidisciplinary program and reflect Polvino’s life-long commitment to equity and justice for women. Finally, The Mary Lotta Family Endowed Fund will support Eastern’s NOVA program, which helps students complete their degrees by offering a wide range of academic and social services. The named fund will honor Polvino’s sister, who worked to bring hope and opportunity to the disadvantaged. Together this legacy supports the values and programs Polvino most cherished at Eastern. As part of a financial plan, Polvino often asks clients to think about their own legacies. “At first,” she laughs, “they look at me as if I have two heads.” But she plants a seed, helping people reflect on how estate planning can serve the causes and institutions most important in their own journey to “extraordinary outcomes.” So Geri Polvino has never stopped coaching— she just moved to a new court. To discover how your gift could create a legacy at Eastern Kentucky University, please call (859) 622-3565 or visit www.eku.edu/development.

Extraordinary Outcomes

In 2001, a few weeks after retiring from EKU, Dr. Geri Polvino, former coach of Eastern’s powerhouse women’s volleyball team, joined the firm of Edward Jones as a financial planner. Surprising career jump? Not really. She had been investing carefully for decades, generating “extraordinary outcomes” with a gift for identifying top performers. As she did for generations of student-athletes, Polvino builds game plans, balances offensive and defensive tactics, helping clients stay focused and engaged–positioned for success. “I’m solution-driven and I was born to teach,” she says. In sports, finance, and in nurturing first generation students, Geri Polvino’s solutions transform lives. When she started Eastern’s volleyball program in 1966, women’s athletics didn’t get headlines. That changed. In 32 years Polvino compiled a 627-439 record, leading the Colonels to nine season championships, eight league tournament titles and three straight Kentucky Women’s Intercollegiate Conference titles. In 1989, she helped create the prestigious post-season National Invitational Volleyball Championships. Polvino tirelessly recruited, challenged and inspired student-athletes while building support for volleyball. In recognition of these contributions, Geri Polvino was the first volleyball coach inducted into the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame and was elected president of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport’s Coaches Academy. In 1991, Polvino was inducted into Eastern’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni. When she became the first woman instructor certified by the International Volleyball Federation, “Sure I paused, I enjoyed the moment,” Polvino reflects. “Then you move on. It’s all a journey.” In 1997, after retiring from coaching, Dr. Geri Polvino’s journey didn’t take her far: she moved over to Eastern’s College of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics, helping students link sports and life performance strategies. Now at Edward Jones, Polvino spearheads an initiative to recruit and train female financial planners. If you want performers, she says, find student-athletes. When Eastern volleyball star and first generation student Kasha Brozek interviewed at Edward Jones, “she was poised and confident. She knew risk analysis, practice and persistence, getting up after failure and finding solutions. Kasha is a true product of sport.” In her “spare time,” Polvino tirelessly promotes Eastern, serving on the Alumni Board, speaking to Rotary and community groups, guiding students to internship and job opportunities, sharing what Eastern is to her: “a sanctuary of ideas, humanity and relevance. I received so much, but to complete the cycle, you give back.” To “give back,” Geri Polvino recently helped the University meet its first-ever comprehensive campaign goal with a generous three-part planned gift commitment to EKU. Her estate pledge will first bolster an existing scholarship named for her parents: The Russell T. and Josephine B. Polvino Endowed Women’s Volleyball and Softball Fund. Next, The Dr. Geri Polvino Endowed Women and Gender Studies Fund will support Eastern’s multidisciplinary program and reflect Polvino’s life-long commitment to equity and justice for women. Finally, The Mary Lotta Family Endowed Fund will support Eastern’s NOVA program, which helps students complete their degrees by offering a wide range of academic and social services. The named fund will honor Polvino’s sister, who worked to bring hope and opportunity to the disadvantaged. Together this legacy supports the values and programs Polvino most cherished at Eastern. As part of a financial plan, Polvino often asks clients to think about their own legacies. “At first,” she laughs, “they look at me as if I have two heads.” But she plants a seed, helping people reflect on how estate planning can serve the causes and institutions most important in their own journey to “extraordinary outcomes.” So Geri Polvino has never stopped coaching— she just moved to a new court.

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