Center Focus 1-16 ALL.pdf Center Focus May 2014 | Page 12

They Got There
From Here

A

Ann McCarthy, CPA
COO and CFO, Zeavision (St. Louis, MO)
BS, Iowa State University.
MBA, University of Wisconsin.
Doctorate work (completed everything but
her dissertation) at Webster University.
Has worked in Finance and Marketing at
Peat, Marwick and Mitchell, Kimberly Clark, Nestle Purina, and
Dallas Rapid Transit. Received the Businesswoman of the Year
Award from Women in Business. Received the American
Marketing Association’s Effie Award.

nn McCarthy and Miki McGovern have been
friends since they were partners in Biology
class at St. Joseph Academy. McCarthy loved
math, McGovern loved literature; McCarthy describes
McGovern as “brilliant and witty” and McGovern
describes McCarthy as “someone who always has had
a sense of humor.” Although they have different
personalities and pursued different careers (McCarthy
a CFO and McGovern a judge), they both credit their
St. Joseph Academy education for forming them into
the people they are today.
Their SJA Education
When they reflect back on their education at St. Joseph
Academy, both agreed that the Sisters of Charity had a
tremendous impact on them. “The nuns were forward
thinkers who instilled in us the desire to make a
difference – big or small – in someone’s life every day,”
said McGovern. The Sisters also “didn’t let us know
what hurdles we faced,” said McCarthy.
Both women said attending an all girls school in the
1960s was a wonderful gift. “We went to school in an
environment where you could be the best, and that
was critical to building self confidence” said McCarthy. “Girls held all of the leadership positions and it
never dawned on us that women couldn’t lead.” Added
McGovern, “I was able to hold leadership roles and I
didn’t think it was odd or strange for girls to do that.”
Both women name a particular nun that impacted
their lives. For McGovern, it was Sister Myra, an
English and Journalism teacher who was not much
older than her students. “Sister Myra taught us to be
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good writers and effective communicators. She
stressed how important it is to express oneself, no
matter what field one studied. She prepared me for
college level writing, as well as persuasive writing for
my job. I found that writing was easy for me in college,
and I must have been good at it because the football
players would copy off my papers!”
Sister Mary Esther, a math teacher at SJA, had the
most impact on McCarthy. “She taught me the love of
learning and how to think critically,” McCarthy said.
“While we were in school, the nuns stopped
wearing their habits. They made a highly visible
statement about what is reality and what is tradition or
cultural. It allowed me to see that very few things are
truly right or wrong; most things are cultural and you
can choose to fit in the culture you live in or not, and
live with the repercussions. They taught me to really
look at the issues and make conscious decisions. They
were very gutsy and brave. I wanted to take similar
actions in my life that would make people think.”
While they are very grateful for the opportunity to
attend an all girls school, both McGovern and
McCarthy are positive about the SJA and Dowling
High School merger that occurred after they
graduated. Said McGovern, “Dowling has a stellar
reputation academically and athletically. There are so
many opportunities for girls to participate in sports
and lead today at a school like Dowling. And I think it
would be hard to have two separate schools now.”
Added McCarthy, “The merger of SJA and Dowling
was really a non-issue for me. I had confidence that
the decision being made was the right one. At the time,
I didn’t judge; that’s what the Sisters at SJA taught us.”

Miki McGovern,
JD Administrative Law Judge
for the Iowa Division of
Workers’ Compensation
BS, Iowa State University.
MA, University of Iowa.
JD, Drake University. Received the Arabella Mansfield
Award from the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys.
Former President of the Polk and Dallas County Bar
Associations. Former President of the Iowa Organization
of Women Attorneys. Former President of Polk County
Women Attorneys. Served on the Board of Governors for
the Iowa State Bar Association and the National
Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.

Role Models
When discussing who had an in