This month, I connected with Stephanie Scheele, executive director of the Vera Bradley Foundation. Passionate and compassionate, Stephanie leads a team and a network of partners working to further research to find a cure for breast cancer. She has a magnetic personality and her leadership has expanded the impact of this unique organization that’s part of the fabric of Fort Wayne.

Tell me about your career? I’ve been at Vera Bradley and the Vera Bradley Foundation for twenty-five years. It was early in my career. I started as a sales assistant when there were ninety-six employees in the whole company. I had a series of interviews, including lunch with the company founders, Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia Miller. My philosophy was – and still is – that no job is too menial, whether it was sending a fax or making copies. I worked hard and am really proud that as I moved up, many positions were created for me. My last position at Vera Bradley was Chief Marketing Officer. Four years ago, I joined the foundation as executive director.

What is the story of the foundation? Barbara and Pat lost a very dear friend, Mary Sloan, to breast cancer. They created the foundation with the mission of raising funds to further breast cancer research. Fast forward to today: Over 30 years have passed and we’ve raised over $42 million. We currently partner with the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center for the research.

What drew you to the foundation? Four years ago, my perspective on my career and life as a whole changed dramatically. My son Owen was a healthy seventeen-year-old boy and he passed away suddenly. He woke up one morning with a migraine and we learned he had a very rare, aggressive form of leukemia which was undiagnosed. We lost him in two days. As you can imagine, our family has a totally different perspective on life now. I look at everything through a different lens. I appreciate things that I took for granted before. And I really cherish quality time with the people I love. The role at the foundation is part of my realization that I have a bigger purpose. I was put here for a bigger reason and am doing what I can to make a difference and give back. The foundation’s mission to raise funds for research to find a cure and improve the lives of those affected by breast cancer is perfectly aligned with my purpose. And so I’ve never been more satisfied in a job as I am right now.

How can community members get involved? The foundation team is small, and we rely on volunteers for everything we do. Anyone who’s seen the pink ribbons on every tree and lamp post in downtown Fort Wayne knows it takes an army of volunteers to make that happen. Every year, we make and hang over 8,000 ribbons! There are a couple of great opportunities for volunteers to get involved. From September 18 - 21, we host the Vera Bradley Classic, a golf, pickleball and tennis tournament at Fort Wayne Country Club, Wildwood Racket and Wellness Club and Power-Up Courts. On November 14, we hold a tissue bank event. We partner on that with the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank, the only healthy breast tissue biorepository of its kind. A trained surgeon or radiologist will collect healthy breast tissue samples from 200 women volunteers. This is an incredible opportunity for any woman 18 or older who wants to contribute to the research. To date, the majority of the samples we have are from white women. This year, we are making it our goal to engage more BIPOC women in the research.

Favorite part of summer? It’s the long days, the chats with neighbors at 10 in the evening in the cul-de-sac and the time outdoors. I love everything about summer and make the most of it. We love to have people over and we gather around the fire pit. Ours is the house where the kids convene. It’s selfish – I like to know where my kids are, so I never say ‘no’ when they ask if they can have friends over. Holiday traditions? Christmas! We are blessed to have both my family and my husband’s here in Fort Wayne. My kids have grown up with grandparents here locally, and we particularly love our Christmas traditions. My husband’s family is Swedish, and we always have traditional Swedish dishes around Christmas time. Our typical holiday menu is pickled herring, brisket, meatballs, sausage, brown beans, pepparkakor (thin, crispy ginger cookies), rice pudding and lingonberry jam.

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