With 30 years of experience and expertise in HR, Ruthie is a results-focused leader who delivers talent acquisition, retention, and strategic HR initiatives that assist CSHQA in harnessing the full power of their most valuable assets – their people. She is dedicated to creating a robust culture that promotes continuous business and professional growth that empowers and motivates employees to realize their full potential in bringing their best self to the job.
Ruthie has always been passionate about people. It was that passion that drove her to earn a degree in Early Childhood Education with a minor in Special Education from the University of Idaho. After graduating and shifting her focus from teaching, she started her HR career path with Cascade Fabrication, a whitewater rafting company in Oregon. Over the next 5 years she helped shape the company’s core employee programs becoming the first person to head the personnel department, then became the HR Generalist, and then one of five (5) General Managers of the organization. In 2000, she moved back to Idaho where she found herself being recruited for an HR position with CSHQA. While this initial tenure at CSHQA was short, she spent the next several years owning and operating her own HR consulting business eventually transitioning to a full-time HR/Office Manager for a law firm before returning to CSHQA in 2015.
Since her return to CSHQA, she has progressed to a Director’s level, steering execution of HR strategies and championing the transformation of HR into a function that proactively contributes to the achievement of key business results. Her strong attention to detail and ability to problem solve have helped her to manage the overall culture, performance, and progress of the firm’s talent, while also implementing improvements to the compensation, benefits, employee well-being and the overall employee experience at CSHQA. Ruthie also handles talent management for the firm, executing strategies that help vet potential talent and ensure diversity among CSHQA’s employees. Recently, she assisted with the firm’s Growth Transformation initiatives, including the hiring of an all-new executive team.
Outside of work, Ruthie has an equally long and impressive list of accomplishments, including completing a 50-mile trail run, several marathons, and a handful of 50k and 10k trail races—all of which took time and dedication as when she started, running one mile was literally impossible. She has also volunteered her time with Rake Up Boise, Paint the Town, Race for the Cure, and Relay for Life.
Ruthie is “in her happy place” when spending time adventuring and exploring with her family and friends. She loves to be outdoors (anything outdoors is “her jam”) including skiing, mountain biking, camping, golfing or just having a good time with cocktails on a patio. She’s passionate and intentional about her next stage of “lv4fun” of putting the Starlink on her camper for life’s next adventures.
Education
BS, Early Childhood Education, University of Idaho (minor: Special Education)
Professional Affiliations
Human Resources of the Treasure Valley (HRATV)
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
NCEO (National Center for Employee Ownership)
The ESOP Association (TEA)
University of Idaho Employer Advisory Council
IILG (Idaho Industrial Liaison Group)