Nominations Now Accepted through January 31, 2025
Nominate a deserving mentor today! Review sample criteria responses to aid your nomination.
Criteria for Nominees
- Any TRUST member who demonstrates mentor attributes including: being a connector; strong communicator; sharing wisdom; modeling or supporting work/life integration; having integrity/authenticity; and being accessible/ approachable.
- Attributes should be demonstrated, exhibited, taught, confirmed, visible, “lived”
- Recognized as being an inspiration, and positively impacting the professional development and career trajectory of others.
This award is based on the experiences of the nominee’s formal and informal mentees, not the mentor’s personal career achievements. Anyone (member or not) may nominate someone for the award, but each nominee should be a current TRUST member.
Why Reward Mentors?
Mentorship, both formal and informal, can be an important ingredient to work/life integration, career success and trajectory — yet it is often something that, while prized by recipients, is rarely rewarded. In 2016, the TRUST established the Mentor of the Year Award to highlight the importance and skill of mentorship and the powerful impact a single person can have on the lives of many. The award is presented annually to a TRUST member who positively affects others via the demonstrated mentorship qualities.
2023 Mentor of the Year – Bobbi Kochevar, MBA, MLS(ASCP)CM
Join us in congratulating our newest Mentor of the Year, Roberta (Bobbi) Jo Kochevar!
Bobbi currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Nexus Family Healing headquartered in Plymouth, Minn. In her role, she oversees the operations and provides strategic guidance to Nexus’ sites and affiliates.
Direct reports include the Executive Directors who oversee six Nexus agencies spanning several states as well as the Executive Director of Education who provides oversight to the Nexus alternative, non-public schools. Nexus Family Healing is a $150M non-profit organization that serves children, youth, and families across five states through education programs, community mental health services, foster care and adoption and residential treatment programs.
Prior to joining Nexus, Bobbi held leadership roles at North Memorial Health and Children’s Hospitals of Minnesota. Bobbi holds a Baccalaureate in Medical Technology from Winona State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
She’s the former Board President of Saint Mary’s University Alumni Association and the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) of Minnesota. She is an active member of the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST, where she was named one of the top 35 emerging leaders in 2015 and has served numerous times as a mentor in the TRUST’s Mentoring Program.
Other Mentor of the Year Award Winners by Year:
2022: Diane Nanstad
2021: Colleen Askvig
2020: Jeannine Rivet
2019: Pamela Stegora Axberg
2018: Danielle Hansen
2017: Samantha Hanson
2016: Jill Johnson