For details, contact:
Jerry Poling
Assistant Director of Communications
715-232-2384
polingj@uwstout.edu
Menomonie, Wis. — Kelly Matter, president of Resource Inc. based in Minneapolis, will
return to her alma mater Thursday, Oct. 31, as the Cabot Executive in Residence, an annual
leadership event sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Stout College of Management.
As part of daylong meetings with students, faculty and administrators, Matter will speak from
10 to 11 a.m. in ballrooms B and C of the Memorial Student Center.
Her talk, “Balancing the Triple Bottom Line: Corporate Social Responsibility,” is free and open
to the public. Matter will discuss the social, economic and environmental aspects of corporate
business.
Matter, a native of Belmont in southwestern Wisconsin, graduated from UW-Stout in 1989
with a degree in vocational rehabilitation. In November 2012 she was named president of the
nonprofit Resource Inc., which provides employment, training, chemical health, mental health
and disability services to help people improve their personal, social and economic situations.
She previously was vice president of mission services at Goodwill/Easter Seals in Minnesota
and was vice president of advantage services at CommonBond Communities.
Resource Inc. has 300 employees at 25 locations and helps more than 17,000 people a
year in Minnesota, with a budget of about $27 million. A recent initiative in two counties
is intended to help people get off public assistance, and Matter wants to raise money for
building upgrades.
More information about Resource Inc. is available at www.resource-mn.org.
“Getting people with disabilities and other barriers connected with the economy has been a
focus of my career. So much of our lives revolves around what our work is. It just empowers
people,” Matter said.
The role of nonprofit organizations is continuously changing, and that shift accelerated after
the near collapse of the U.S. economy five years ago, she said.
“We need to continue to recognize that everyone is employable,” Matter said, adding that
it’s important for nonprofit organizations like Resource Inc. to partner with the business
community. “It’s about knowing the business trends, not just the human services or social
services trends.”
Matter said UW-Stout prepared her well for her career. “I am an example of the UW-
Stout approach working,” she said, which is “connecting people to real careers. I think the
experiential learning I did is what helped me get a job in my area and stay in my chosen field.”
Matter serves on the Stout University Foundation Board of Directors and leads the
scholarship committee. “It has been fabulous,” Matter said of her Foundation service. “I have
enjoyed reconnecting with UW-Stout.”
The Arthur R. Cabot Executive Residency Program was established in 1984. Cabot was a
successful pet products manufacturer. His son, Scott, is a 1978 graduate of UW-Stout.
