by Dennis Dalman
Dr. Perian Stavrum, who lives in rural St. Joseph, received an award Aug. 16 from the St. Cloud Optimist Club for her work with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota.
Stavrum serves on the advisory council of BBBS, of which she is a charter member.
The award recognizes outstanding employees or volunteers who have provided assistance to organizations that serve youth in central Minnesota. As part of her honor, the club will donate $100 to BBBS of Central Minnesota.
BBBS of Central Minnesota Executive Director Jackie Johnson had high praise for Stavrum at the awards ceremony.
“Dr. Perian has been helping and guiding our infrastructure at Big Brothers Big Sisters since 2016, and we are so grateful to have someone with her talent and skill set with our agency,” she said. “Dr. Perian is so deserving of this award, and it was an honor to be with her today as she was honored for her work in helping us find mentors for more local youth.”
In addition to her work on the BBBS’s Strategic Planning Committee, Stavrum was also one of the charter members of the agency’s Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Committee in 2020. She has been that committee’s co-chair since 2021 and helps promote best practices in all aspects of DEI work. This past spring, she spent 10 hours working with program staff to offer a fresh perspective on the volunteer application process in an effort to help increase the number of volunteer mentors BBBS is able to match with local youth.
Stavrum has a doctoral degree in industrial/organizational psychology. She has degrees from St. Cloud State University and Walden University (Minneapolis) and was a summer participant abroad in the countries of Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and Iceland. She was employed by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services for nearly 18 years and retired three years ago. She has served on many social-service agencies as a volunteer for many years.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota currently has more than 160 children waiting for a mentor, including children at all six local school districts that offer site-based programming. To learn more about the various mentorship options or to find out how you can make a difference in the life of a child, call (320) 253-1616 or visit BigDefenders.org/ways.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota was established in 1969. Its mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
The St. Cloud Optimist Club honored Dr. Perian Stavrum (right) with a Service to Youth Award for her work at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota. At left is Jackie Johnson, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
