I
n 2014, after an intensive screen-
ing and interviewing process, the
City selected Maureen Tobin from
over 200 applicants to fill its newly-
created position of Communications and
Engagement Manager. It’s no small job in
a city of 42,000 people with diverse needs
and concerns. Particularly in the age of
smartphones and social media when news
cycles are short and attention spans are
shorter still.
People who know Maureen, including
her boss, Morgan Hill City Manager Steve
Rymer, say she always brings her A-game to
work. They also say it’s her personal quali-
ties and her outlook on life, not just her
professional skills, that make her such a
great asset to our community.
“Maureen is constantly looking at how
best to move information between the
City and the community,” Steve said. “She
champions ideas and fosters consensus with
a positive attitude and enthusiasm.”
“She was a serious student, but every
once in a while she’d do something sponta-
neous. I remember being so surprised when
she took on the role of Sandy from Grease,
the musical. She showed up at school in
black leather with her hair done up and
broke into song. She totally pulled it off.”
Heydays of Healthcare
Maureen went on to study healthcare
management and business at San Jose State
University. Afterward she went to work
at San Jose Medical Center. From there,
Maureen took a post as Director of Business
Services with American Medical Response
during its run-up to an IPO.
“She champions ideas and
fosters consensus with a positive
attitude and enthusiasm.”
Steve Rymer,
Morgan Hill City Manager
Early Days
Maureen’s parents brought the family
to Santa Clara County from Southern
California when she was 11 years old and
her father was working as an aerospace
engineer. Maureen was the oldest of four
children.
While a student at Santa Theresa High
School in the 1970s, Maureen befriended
Terri Porter who became a life-long friend.
“In high school, Maureen was tolerant
of different groups and moved easily among
them, but was not swayed by peer pressure,”
Terri said. “We became friends and made a
pact that if someone we knew threw a party,
we’d arrive together, leave together, and keep
our noses clean. She was like my Jiminy
Cricket, my conscience, and I was hers.
“The 1980s was an era of development
for large healthcare systems,” Maureen said.
“It was fascinating to be involved early on,
but by the 1990s I had lost confidence in
the company’s mission. I was asking myself,
‘Did we really make things better?’ Maybe
not.”
It was during this time period that
Maureen’s son, Ryan, and daughter, Lauren,
were born. She frequently travelled on busi-
ness and her husband worked shift work,
so they often relied on day and nighttime
care for their children. In 1995, Maureen
left her job and shifted gears, eager to spend
more time with her children.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
“I did not want to miss out on this spe-
cial time in my kid’s lives,”Maureen said.
In the late 1990s, Maureen did some
part-time consulting in management coach-
ing and organizational development, enjoy-
ing the flexibility of working from home
and around her kid’s schedules. She also
worked with the San Jose State University’s
Center to Develop Women Entrepreneurs,
as a coach and facilitator, and gave lectures
at the university on a topic close to her
heart – achieving a work-life balance.
Back to School with the Kids
As Maureen’s son and daughter entered
their school years in Morgan Hill Unified
School District, a substitute teaching job
opened up and she jumped at the chance to
work in the school system, align her sched-
ule with that of her kids and be more in
touch with their school experience.
“Here I had worked in management
positions offering my expertise all over the
country and managing multi-million dollar
companies, and I was nervous on my first
day at school, walking into a class of third
grade students!”
Over the next eight years, Maureen
worked at Paradise Valley, El Toro, Jackson,
Martin Murphy, Britton and Live Oak
schools.
Helping Others Heal
Maureen had had a long-time interest in
hypnotherapy and executive/life coaching,
so she invested four years in training and
developing a new set of skills. Once certi-
fied, she “hung out her shingle” and found
she really enjoyed the work.
“All of the work I’d done in the past was
coming together, contributing to my ability
to work in a new field. I enjoyed educating
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