Pioneer Award winner follows in friend’s footsteps

If you ask Jean Milstead how she ended up serving on some board or getting involved with some organization, she has a common response.

“Because of my friend Shirley Martin Smith.”

Milstead and Smith first met in 1976. They’ve been friends ever since.

“When I met Shirley, I immediately felt like I added a new member to my family,” Milstead said. “We share the same values and work ethic, but more importantly, we share a love and respect for people and a desire to see them be successful.”

Smith was the one who encouraged Milstead to join her on the Governing Board of the Bert Nash Center. Milstead joined the Bert Nash Governing Board in 2000 and served 10 years, including a term as chair. She also served, along with Smith, on the search committees for the past two Bert Nash CEOs, David Johnson, who was hired in 2001, and his successor, Patrick Schmitz, who was hired in 2017.

For her many contributions to the Center, Milstead was honored as the 2018 recipient of the Bert Nash Pioneer Award. The award was presented at the Pioneer Celebration on April 30. Her longtime friend, herself a Pioneer Award recipient in 2014, made the presentation.

“The Pioneer Award is given to a Douglas County individual whose efforts and achievements typify the progressive, caring spirit that led to the founding of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center,” Smith said. “Jean exemplifies that same spirit. She is my good friend and my lifelong role model, ever reminding me to be kind, patient and focused on the mission at hand.”

Milstead and Smith have served together on numerous local boards and committees, including the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and they were involved in the development of the Leadership Lawrence program.

“She just pulls me along,” Milstead said of her friend.

But, Milstead has proven she can pull her own weight. And the two of them together make quite a team. As retired Bert Nash CEO Johnson can attest.

“The first thing I learned about Lawrence and Douglas County was if anyone wanted to get something done to benefit people who live here, they would ask Shirley Martin-Smith to take charge,” Johnson said. “The first thing she will do is ask Jean Milstead for help … or vice versa.”

Milstead has been an active member of the community since she came to Lawrence in 1966. That’s when she took a job with Douglas County Bank. She ended up working for the bank for 34 years, retiring in 2000. Her involvement with the Chamber of Commerce included stints as interim president and CEO, interim vice president of economic development and interim vice president of operations. She’s received numerous honors over the years, including, most recently, induction in the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame in 2017, the 2015 Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Years Award, the 2014 Wally Galluzzi Volunteer of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce, and the Lyn Smith Distinguished Service Award in 2010 from the Bert Nash Center.

When presenting Milstead with the Pioneer Award, Smith said of her friend, “Jean’s knowledge and love for our community make her one of its best advocates. Bert Nash has frequently benefitted from Jean’s leadership. For the past 18 years, Jean has served Bert Nash whenever she was needed, and no matter what she was asked to. She is a proud supporter of Bert Nash and has told the Bert Nash story to countless individuals over the years.

She has worked tirelessly to ensure good mental health services, through strong leadership and a collaborative spirit.”

For her part, Milstead is grateful for the chances she has had to be involved in the community and with organizations like the Bert Nash Center.

“I value the time I spent assisting the Bert Nash Center by serving as a board member and I am very honored by this recognition,” Milstead. “I have been so blessed with the opportunities I have been given. This community, the people in this community, have become my family. I’ve been so fortunate.”

And, of course, she had to share the credit with her friend.

“Shirley has gotten me into all kinds of things and enlarged my world tremendously,” Milstead said. “We’ve had some wonderful times.”

And, they’re not done yet.