EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
Name: Becky Willard
Title: Director
Location: Columbia, MO
Bio: I grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri, and now call Columbia, Missouri home (I did both my undergrad and graduate degrees here at the University of Missouri – turns out this college town is a great place to raise a family!). I worked for a St. Louis-based consulting firm for many years, leading the fundraising and special events division which allowed me to work on political races, large-scale issue campaigns, as well as raise funds for some local not-for-profit agencies. Following that, I was the Deputy Campaign Manager for Roy Blunt’s successful 2016 U.S. Senate race – and shortly thereafter joined Axiom! My husband and I have two beautiful daughters, Eliza and Leni.
What you do at Axiom/how you serve our clients: I work with many of our Missouri-based clients to raise funds for their campaigns, and also work with our political and public affairs clients to ensure their projects run smoothly. I love the finance side of politics – connecting donors with candidates who share their priorities, and helping campaigns get the resources they need to execute their plans. One of the things I enjoy most about working at Axiom, though, is that we offer a broad range of services which allows me to branch out into other areas, like engaging with our public affairs affiliate, Clout.
Fun fact: I was a Girl Scout for 13 years, all the way through high school, and earned my Gold Award (which is like the Eagle Scout Award for Boy Scouts). Now I’m a Scout leader for my daughter’s troop, and have come to realize that the world would be a much better place if people paid more attention to the lessons we teach our children every day.
How I got my start at Axiom: I had worked on projects with Jeff and others at Axiom through the years, and had even talked to Jeff about coming to work here a few times. Finally one day, he asked me why I wasn’t saying yes, and I told him I was worried that Axiom wasn’t family-friendly enough for me, a mom, to work here and still raise my kids. He assured me that he was building a company I would be happy and proud to work for, kids and all – and he couldn’t have been more right!