West Virginia Executive Spring 2019 | Page 82

Pam Farris Executive Director Leadership West Virginia MAGGIE MATSKO Photo by Tracy A. Toler Photography. “THE TRUE MEASURE OF LEADERSHIP is not how much you achieve. It is how much you inspire others to achieve.” This quote by John Maxwell inspires Pam Farris every day in her role as executive director of Leadership West Virginia (LWV). The Pennsylvania native’s passion for the Mountain State started during her first visit to the old Mountaineer Field as a high school student, and she has never looked back. Upon graduating from West Virginia University with a degree in marketing, Farris landed her first professional job 80 WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE as an assistant account manager for Employer’s Service Cor- poration, a third-party disability management administrator in Charleston. In that role, Farris learned the importance of having a connection with each client, a trait imperative to the work she does today with LWV, where she is responsible for creating connections among West Virginia’s leaders. At LWV, Farris oversees the planning, implementation and fundraising to promote the organization’s education and profes- sional training program statewide. “I manage the recruitment