Three Excellence in Business Performance awardees will be recognized on Friday, November 14 at the St. Louis American Foundation’s 15th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon: Juanita Logan, Senior Business Development Manager and Advisor to the Chairman, World Wide Technology; Shirley A. Stennis, Director Customer Service, Ameren Illinois; and Dierdra J. Yates, Manager of Communications, BJC HealthCare.
“Working at WWT, I’ve always felt that the company has been sincerely committed to its employees, our core values and our corporate culture,” said Juanita Logan, Senior Business Development Manager and Advisor to the Chairman, World Wide Technology.
Logan advises the chairman on business opportunities, as well as customer and partner briefings. She also manages special project engagements. Prior to that role, Juanita was responsible for helping the WWT sales organization capture new market company capabilities, define and manage the sales process and mitigate company risk.
“Every company has unique and varying degrees of complexity in the business processes required to manage the flow of their product-related material,” Logan said.
Logan has been with WWT since 1998 in various leadership roles managing different aspects of the business, including business consulting, IT & marketing. Prior to WWT, she held various roles managing and supporting international business in the state of Missouri.
Logan has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Kansas and a master of international business degree from Saint Louis University. She is also a graduate of the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative Fellows Program.
Shirley Stennis was named director of customer service at Ameren Illinois Company (AIC) in September 2013. Stennis oversees customer service areas in Decatur, Peoria and Pawnee, Illinois, as well as a call center vendor operation in Raleigh, N.C.
With her home office in Collinsville, Ill., Stennis travels extensively between customer service areas because she says visibility is crucial.
“The staff need to know that I am connected,” she said.
Stennis said she brings strong leadership skills and a customer focus to the organization. She takes pride in helping Ameren Illinois Customer Service achieve its goals to be in the top-tier in employee engagement and customer satisfaction.
“We’re all somebody’s customer,” she said. “We have to make certain that we are putting out there what you would like to have for yourself.”
Stennis had more than 29 years of service at Ameren Missouri. In her former role as manager of municipal and public accounts, she led a team of employees who were liaisons for Ameren Missouri’s 91 municipalities, community public officials and key community leaders.
Stennis said she shuns the spotlight and prefers to lead from the background, helping others attain their personal and professional best. She is a second-term president of the Ameren Network of Minority Employee resource group. Within the employee resource group, she served on a seven-person committee that initiated the first formal mentoring program at Ameren Missouri.
“That has always been my passion: to be what I could be for those who aspired to move up,” she said.
BJC Communications Manager Dierdra Yates uses public relations savvy to develop and execute communications strategies to engage employees and support the health care organization’s overall vision and objectives. She has been with BJC since 2011.
As 2014 graduate of the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative Fellows Program, Yates said the experience allowed her to see herself also as an individual and leader in the community.
“Through a holistic approach, the program creates a safe and stimulating environment for us to receive valuable feedback, self-reflect, acquire effective leadership strategies, and build relationships essential to our professional and personal growth and success,” Yates recently told BJC Today.
She is also a graduate of the CORO St. Louis Women in Leadership Program.
Yates has more than 13 years of communications experience, previously working for Solae LLC, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Mercy, Common Ground Public Relations, Bryan Cave LLP, the American Liver Foundation and FleishmanHillard.
Yates earned a master’s degree in media communication from Webster University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.
Yates is also a recent volunteer member of the United Way allocation panel for youth development.
“In that role, I’ll participate in site visits to help determine how United Way funds are allocated,” Yates said. “As I consider opportunities for board position roles, this kind of experience will be instrumental in teaching me how to evaluate an organization’s effectiveness, efficiency and ability to deliver results.”
The 15th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon will be held Friday, November 14 at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, networking reception at 11 a.m., luncheon program at noon. Tickets are $100 for VIP/Preferred seating, $75 for general admission. Call 314-533-8000 or visit www.stlamerican.com for more information or to purchase tickets.
