Executive Director
Leadership West Virginia
By Maggie Matsko
“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 as an assistant account manager for Employer’s Service Corporation, 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 professional training program statewide. “I manage the recruitment and selection process of each class, select the eight sites for the program sessions and coordinate the speakers for each session as well as all the other activities that support our annual eight-month program,” she says. “We know at LWV that the cultivation of new leadership is of the utmost importance to the Mountain State.”
Farris was introduced to the LWV program when she was nominated to participate in 1998. “My employer saw the value in investing in employees by nominating one of us every year,” she says. “The places around the state we experienced and the topics we discussed truly made a difference in my focus throughout my career.”
Farris took a leap of faith in 2005 with the encouragement of the people around her and applied for the executive director position at LWV. She was one of 60 people that applied for the position. “I was in a comfortable place in my career,” she says. “Comfort feels good, but experiencing your passion feels great. At first, I was uncomfortable being among so many experienced leaders—until I realized we all have something to offer, share and learn. I still learn something new every day, and now it is my responsibility to make a difference.”
Farris is grateful for her mentor, Anna Dailey, managing partner of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, whom she credits for giving her the confidence to be a great leader. “Anna is a past chair of the LWV board of directors and has been one of my biggest cheerleaders,” says Farris. “Anna set clear expectations for me when I was hired for the job. She offered me the space to be successful but was still there when I needed her help.”
Farris credits her parents as being her biggest motivation for her success. “My parents instilled respect and hard work in me,” she says. “I saw it every day, even beyond my dad’s job and my mom’s work at home with the kids. They still found time to volunteer with our church. My mom participated with Meals on Wheels every week, and my dad was the unpaid maintenance man. They had a great influence on me growing up.”
The importance of giving back was instilled in Farris at a very early age, and today she strives to make a difference not only in her career but in her community as well. “Because I am focused on leadership training with my job, I am drawn to the same in my community service,” she says.
Farris is a member of the board of directors for the Charleston Vandalia Rotary Club, West Virginia Society of Association Executives and Girls Scouts of Black Diamond Council. She also serves as the secretary for the WVU Women’s Business Center advisory council and a member of the steering committee for Women for Economic and Leadership Development. Her role at LWV also includes organizing events with the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy, The Education Alliance and West Virginia K-12 Speakers’ Bureau.
By giving back to the community, Farris hopes she can inspire others and help propel them forward to success. “You may know your purpose and work on growing your potential as you move toward success, but it can be very lonely if you are not helping others grow as well,” she says. “It is a leader’s responsibility to grow seeds, and that is what I plan to do for West Virginia.”
1981 Graduated from West Virginia University
1983 Joined Employer’s Service Corporation
1993 Joined Junior League of Charleston
1998 Graduated from Leadership West Virginia
2005 Named the executive director of Leadership West Virginia
2009 Received the Honorary West Virginian Award
2014 Joined Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council’s board of directors
2017 Joined WVU Women’s Business Center’s advisory council
2017 Joined the Women for Economic and Leadership Development steering committee
