Supervisor Candidates for Tredyffrin Township, District 3 – West
Heather Greenberg (R)
Yolanda Van de Krol (D)
The Tredyffrin Township Supervisor candidates were asked to answer the following question in 500 words or less.
Please identify a specific character trait that makes you an effective leader. Give an example(s) of how you have utilized that personal characteristic in previous leadership position and, if elected, how residents will benefit from that particular trait. Be specific.
The two candidate responses follow below in alphabetical order according to last name. If your question and/or comment is for a specific candidate, please refer to that individual by name so as not to confuse the reader. Voters will select one of these candidates on November 3 for the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors.
Tredyffrin Township Supervisor Candidate Heather Greenberg (R)
District 3 – West
Leadership and Financial Management
Thank you for the opportunity to help voters learn more about me in advance of this very important Tredyffrin Supervisor election. Having held leadership roles in both my professional and community service experience, I believe there are several leadership traits I possess which have contributed to my success. Perhaps the one most relevant to the role of Supervisor, is my financial management. By this, I include the following: ability to process financial information, build operational plans around that data and communicate to relevant stakeholders. I apply critical thinking to solve problems and provide long term strategic planning.
After graduating from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of commerce, I joined Arthur Andersen LLP in their audit division. I began working with emerging stage businesses building, managing and optimizing their financial position to drive business growth. In these environments, I worked with business owners and entrepreneurs helping them understand how their financial data was critical in understanding the drivers of their operations and profitability. Working with finances at the ground level and building up from there, helped me develop expertise around financial management. I learned how to ask the critical questions, uncover what the data was revealing about their business and suggest ways to improve their financial environments.
Eventually I lead a high tech start up which was on the cutting edge of implementing telecommuting programs. As their Senior financial executive, I built financial forecasts/budgets which lead to over $60 million in capital investment. I was able to achieve these results by presenting a commanding and compelling financial plan to some of the top private equity firms in high tech. I charted a plan for growth, funded the investment, and then ran the finance and accounting department, presenting financial results to investors and Board members.
Most recently, my financial management experience has been utilized assisting an early stage company in the renewable energy industry, trying to expand into international markets. With two years of operations already, they had never employed a financial position. Over the last 9 months, I corrected prior financial statements, created the company’s first cash forecasting model, created an annual budget, created and presented investment presentations to local investors, and renegotiated our bank line of credit to accommodate the needed capital investment. With my ability to understand how financial information drives operations, I am able to manage and optimize operations, both current and future.
I believe all this financial management experience would be a huge value to Tredyffrin residents in making sure their taxes are optimized through value creation. I have done this for the last two decades in the private sector and would like to bring that experience to a community that has been the backdrop to three generations of my family. As Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Heaberg retires, the Board and community loses his critical financial expertise. I would like the opportunity to continue his strong financial leadership and am confident I have the skills to do that.
Tredyffrin Township Supervisor Candidate Yolanda Van de Krol (D)
District 3 – West
Hard work and leadership
I have always worked very hard for what I have. My parents emigrated here from Europe after their country was devastated in WWII. They came here with nothing except good educations and a strong work ethic. They passed along to me the importance of working hard scholastically and professionally. I strived to be an excellent student and started working at the age of 12 to save for college. Hard work has resulted in many opportunities to lead. I have learned that leadership is about taking on the hard issues with transparency and plenty of dialog to build consensus.
I have been in banking for over 20 years. In that time hard work has led to more challenging roles. My jobs often required me to take leadership positions on two different levels. First, I needed to work collaboratively within organizations to educate staff in environments generally not accustomed to internal cooperation. Secondly, I needed to bring in business by working with small and medium businesses to determine their needs and provide them with financial services to help meet their goals.
My service on the Tredyffrin Township Libraries Board – Tredyffrin Public Library and Paoli Library – is another example of hard work combined with leadership. As a working board member, my commitment went well beyond monthly meetings. I spent two years learning before taking over as President for four years. I was able to help Tredyffrin and Paoli libraries navigate through some tumultuous times – the $7MM addition to Tredyffrin Library at the same time the recession hit and local, county and state funding sources cut back on their financial support. If that wasn’t challenging enough, the one and only director of the libraries retired so we had to embark on a director search for the first time in 37 years. Those issues and more required that I work closely with township personnel and the Board of Supervisors. My experience on the Libraries Board gave me firsthand knowledge of the budget process and personnel responsibilities at the township level.
Over the years my willingness to work hard has led to positions requiring leadership skills. And I have learned that good leadership means tackling the important and often difficult issues, understanding the complexities of the issues, keeping people informed every step of the way and soliciting input to craft the best solutions. I have already served Tredyffrin residents on the Libraries Board. I am running for Western District Supervisor to serve the best interests of all the residents of the township.