Kristin Erickson Roberts ’00 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Some people are born leaders — fearless of making difficult decisions, willing to put in long hours, and capable of balancing duties that come from all sides.

Kristin Erickson Roberts fits that mold. The Denver, Iowa, native has personified Wartburg’s mission of leadership, service, faith, and learning since earning a degree in communication arts in 2000, and has done so in very visible positions.

Formerly a television news reporter and anchor, the executive director with Ronald McDonald House Charities thrives on being a public face for the greater good. A Corridor Business Journal “40 Under 40” recipient in 2010, Roberts oversaw the merging of RMHC’s Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois entities. She has grown the organization’s reach through new partnerships and its budget past $1 million.

While her achievements attract the spotlight, Roberts’ day-to-day duties involve behind-the-scenes interactions with patients and families in the fights of their lives. Her compassion and affinity for bettering those around her have not gone unnoticed. In nominating Roberts for the Young Alumni Award, an RMHC executive said Roberts displays “amazing grace” and is respected company-wide as a servant-leader.

Roberts also has influenced hundreds of women in more than eight years of leadership positions with the Junior League of Cedar Rapids. Her term as president transformed the organization; as one Junior League member put it, Roberts helped “move the organization forward in a way that was not popular, but rather, was visionary.” A hallmark of her Junior League work is the development and expansion of a program to better the lives of teenagers in foster care.

Roberts is a tenured board member of Theatre Cedar Rapids, Rotarian, and an active member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. She and her husband, Mark, have one son.