Kyle Irwin
Kyle Irwin has been serving at the Children’s Assessment Center for 15 years as Board Secretary. This means she’s the ambassador for the Center, helps raise funds, tells the larger community about the Center, and introduces people to the Center.
It is quite a load to carry, but it helps that everyone on the board tries to assist in recruiting people from the community. In addition to this, the board, alongside Irwin, oversees policies and governance. These policies are reviewed by a team of experts who come to renew the Center’s accreditation every 5 to 6 years. Irwin is not involved in these evaluations noting, “I just come to watch the staff go crazy when it comes.”
Irwin became involved through a board member who was serving at the time, who was an acquaintance. “She was very good in educating me as to what the Center does,” Irwin says. “It was an area I had no prior experience or knowledge in, and it cost her several lunches, but she got me on the board.”
The most rewarding part of serving at the Center for Irwin is “seeing children smile again.”
One story Irwin likes to tell is about a day she was at the Center years ago. She happened to be in a hallway when a young boy, who was a client to the Center, came through with his head held high. Irwin started thinking of her own five sons and thought, “His head would be ducked. There’s going to be shame.” Irwin adds, “What we do is put children back together. We give them a voice.”
Kyle Irwin is very active in her community, serving on nine other boards outside of the Center. Boards she works for include Planned Parenthood, YWCA (Young Woman’s Christian Association), Dwelling Place, the Grand Valley Foundation, Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council, and John Ball Zoo Committee.
In her spare time, Irwin enjoys sports like tennis, golf, and, in wintertime, skiing and platform tennis. What exactly is platform tennis? “It’s a raised platform, it looks like a miniature tennis court, and it has chicken wire around it. It’s almost the same rules as tennis, but what you can do is let the ball hit the screen. It’s more fun, and it gets me through the winter.”
Irwin’s undergraduate degree is in Humanities from Michigan State University. Her Master’s is Library Science from Western Michigan University. While she doesn’t go to Spartan games, she does cheer them on at home.
— Allyson Curtis, Grand Valley State University
