As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation and BPW/USA honor today’s trailblazing women as they lead the way in creating successful workplaces.
This Misbehavin’ interview is one in a series as BPW commemorates Women’s History Month.
Name: Polly Pinney
Title/Organization: Executive Director, Facilities Management, Arizona State University; President-Elect, APPA
Polly Pinney is the Executive Director of Facilities Management at Arizona State University, one of the nation’s largest public research universities located in Phoenix, AZ serving some 67,000 students. In addition, she is the President-Elect of APPA; an international association dedicated to elevating facilities professionals into influential leaders in education. In her role at ASU, she has responsibility for a multi-campus organization maintaining some 10 million square feet of space on more than 1500 acres in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
As APPA President-Elect, she provides leadership for an organization serving over 5,000 facilities professionals at more than 1500 learning institutions in the US, Canada and abroad. Units which she has managed have garnered six Governors Awards for Excellence, she was named twice to the Outstanding Young Women of America, and she is the recipient of the APPA Meritorious Service Award.
My favorite woman in history is…I have 2! The first is Margaret Thatcher because she proved power, grace and toughness are not mutually exclusive terms. The second is Hilary Clinton because she exhibits fearlessness and grace in the face of absolutely anything. She refuses to acknowledge, much less be deterred by barriers. She has power with “heart.”
Women have helped me succeed in my career by…I have been fortunate to have role models both female and male. As I developed my career many women impacted me from many different sources. The women in our lives, both professionally and personally, are our best support.
Early in my career I attended the HERS Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration at Bryn Mawr College. Here I was fortunate to be instructed by the ultimate role models for higher education, female University Presidents and Vice Presidents. This is the ground where ambitions are seeded! As seeing these women inspired me, I hope that my presence in both my roles will be a model for young women entering my profession.
I support Business and Professional Women’s Foundation because…I have lived with the effects and triumphs of issues like salary equity and opportunity for women. I believed in these principles when I became a member of BPW/USA, I continue to believe in them, and I will continue to support these ideals until they are part and parcel of the fabric of our world.
BPW is one of the few voices left that is supporting important women’s issues and bringing them forward actively. I have a 25 year old daughter and I would not want her to experience the things that my generation worked to put to rest.
I’m proud to be a Misbehavin’ Woman by…Never saying “I can’t do that” in reference to a workplace challenge. We grow when we stretch our boundaries and comfort level. We must firmly grasp each opportunity to excel.
You too can celebrate a woman in your life by making a $50 donation in her honor to BPW Foundation.
Name: Rachel Lyons
On April 8th, 2008, Congress enacted the resolution to make April the 
I am involved with several military and veterans organizations. One of those is 
As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, 
It is hard to gauge the 
As organizations proud of their legacy of supporting working women, 
Women have helped me succeed in my career by… serving as role models. Women within my family and inner circle have helped me become self-confident and offered support and strength through their example. I always tell women in particular to be aware of their actions because there are young people watching.
