Betsy Rozelle

About Me

I’m turned off by pompous web site biography sections, written in a fake third-person voice (e.g. Betsy Rozelle is the most captivating and mesmerizing public speaker you will ever hire!! Her facilitation abilities will blow your mind!!).

Instead, I’d prefer to give you some background about myself in the first-person.

The Basics

  • I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but spent my first 2 years in Green Bay.  Yes, you correctly assumed that I’m also a Packers fan.
  • I was adopted when I was 2 years old and raised in the booming metropolis  of Hilbert, Wisconsin.
  • My degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is in Human Services and Professional Leadership, with a minor in Speech Communication.
  • My early career was in chamber of commerce work, then in sales, then in the non-profit world (including overseeing grantmaking for a community foundation, where I learned that helping to give money away is almost as difficult as asking for it).
  • My favorite thing to do professionally is to facilitate people and their feelings and ideas.
  • I am (happily, most days; joyfully, all days) married to Ben.  We are empty nesters.  My daughter Breanna and stepson Zach live nearby.
  • I enjoy long walks, bike rides, cooking (but mostly eating, especially pasta), spending time with friends and family, Bible Studies and fellowship, and playing on-line word games (obsessively).  I especially look forward to movie-night sleepovers/laughfests with my daughter.
  • I am proud to be a Rotarian.  As a member of the Neenah Rotary Club for 17 years, I have served as Club President and as District Trainer.
  • My life’s mission is to glorify God.  My Christian walk is very important to me.

Or, if you’re into statistics…

87%
100%
124
896

My success rate in on-line word games.

The number of participants in my focus groups who share verbal feedback at least twice.

The number of 1st cousins I have (including biological and adoptive).  It is estimated that the average American has 14 first-cousins.

The population of my hometown Hilbert, Wisconsin when I grew up there.  Wisconsin’s entire population in 2012 was 5.7 million.

Betsy Rozelle

In one of my favorite roles...
In one of my favorite roles... ...talking about affinity building
Here I’m using a Venn diagram (the intersecting circles) to explain how our goal when connecting with people is to fill in the intersection of the circles with things/passions/experiences/interests we have in common. I refer to these “affinity circles” often in my training.

Projects Memorable to Me

Focus Group Facilitation
A large paper manufacturer wanted to improve its level of employee engagement and satisfaction. They contracted with me to facilitate several focus groups of employees from random cross-sections of departments. The purpose: clarify employees’ responses to the lowest-scoring employee- engagement survey questions. This valuable information would then be used by Human Resources to create a follow-up plan to move the needle in those areas that needed improvement. Bottom line: create a more satisfied productive work force and decrease employee turnover.

The key to success was ensuring that the participants were primed to give open and honest feedback. I used some of my affinity-building techniques to set the stage for an atmosphere of open sharing.

The result? Candid anonymous responses that Human Resources used to build employee engagement follow-up. The ultimate result? A more productive work force.

Simulation Design
One of the hats I wore as Project Development Coordinator for a community action agency was community education regarding poverty. I facilitated dozens of Poverty Simulations designed to build awareness of what it’s like to live in poverty . . . and to inspire action relative to solutions/responses. Participants assumed the roles of a low-income individuals and “lived” in a simulated community (businesses and services set up around the perimeter of a 3,000 square-foot room) for four 15-minute “weeks.” The debriefing that followed the “month” in poverty was powerful.

My facilitation role included training the 20 volunteers who played the roles of the community resources,  facilitating the debriefing, and implementing a pre-post simulation survey.

The result? An experience for participants that consistently rated “excellent to outstanding” overall scores. The ultimate result? Feedback from participants several weeks following the simulation, saying that they still remembered what they experienced and are applying it to their lives and the lives of others.

Because of my extensive experience with simulations, I was invited to assist in the design of two more, the most recent being a Dementia Simulation for a large healthcare company.  I’m totally sold on the value of this experiential learning method and look forward to helping more organizations design simulations that will improve their service and their bottom line.

Grantseeker Training
My role as Vice President of Donor Services at our local community foundation was to oversee grantmaking. To that end, I needed to build affinity with those who were seeking the money and those who were giving the money—I loved both.

I conducted quarterly Grantseeker Workshops to prepare people who were writing grant proposals. Like any other training, it started with setting the stage for participants to feel comfortable asking questions and sharing ideas. My role was to remove the fear, anxiety, and confusion regarding the quest for funding for a meaningful project. And, often, I needed to follow up with participants to help them clarify the project. I thrived on that interaction, and I was pleased to receive consistent high satisfaction ratings on participant surveys.

The result? A great match of donor funding to outstanding charitable projects/programs. The ultimate result? Improved quality of life in our community.