Winter 2012 | Volume 110 | Number 662
Representing Our Members
Common Agenda
Alice Richter works for members' long-term benefit.
by Donna Mulder
God touched her soul. That's what Alice Richter, a Thrivent member from Prior Lake, Minnesota, says when people ask how she got involved in the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Board of Directors in 2007.
After Richter retired as a partner from a 26-year career at KPMG, an international audit, tax and advisory services firm, in 2001, she began getting calls to join corporate boards. Her auditing expertise and insights were much requested in the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which set new compliance regulations for public companies. She joined her first corporate board in 2003, her second in 2005 and her third in 2007.
When Richter received a call from Thrivent Financial, she initially said no. Her plate was full. "But I decided to meet with the nominating committee, and I was blown away by their commitment and their willingness to share their Christian upbringing," Richter says. Toward the end of the interview, she asked current board Chair Kurt Senske why he's on the board.
"He answered that it enables him to combine his love for the law and his love for God in the business world. We're in a business meeting and we're talking about love for God? I knew God was telling me, in a billboard, that I would join this group."
But that love for God is only one thing that differentiates the Thrivent Financial board from other corporate boards. "On other boards, many times people have individual agendas, but at Thrivent, everyone's agenda is the same," she says. "We want to do what's best for our members in the long term, not for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but what's right for the next 10 years. It's for our members, their children and their grandchildren."
Board members are focused on creating long-term value for membership.
"That's why it's nice to have board members from different areas, such as IT, accounting and law. Everyone takes the information we receive and processes it based on their background, so we can be thinking of all the ramifications," Richter says. "We don't run the organization; management does. But we are responsible to know where management is going and to help steer when we need to."
New Board Member
The board of directors has named Kirk Farney to an appointive position. Farney, of Hinsdale, Illinois, is currently pursuing his doctorate in American history at the University of Notre Dame. Previously he spent more than 25 years as an international banker with J.P. Morgan Securities in Chicago. Farney has served as congregational president and an adult education instructor at his church, St. John's Lutheran in LaGrange, Illinois. Farney serves on the finance and governance committees for the Thrivent Financial board.
When does the board appoint directors?
The Thrivent board consists of elective, appointive and principal officer directors. The board appoints people to serve as appointive directors for several reasons, such as to fill out skill sets, add depth on particular skills and prepare for upcoming retirements.