Christie Jarrett, 31

By Mary Erpenbach

Even when the choice seems obvious, Christie Jarrett proceeds with serene deliberation toward a decision. She married the Rockford boy next door – husband Ehren, who now is the principal of Hononegah High School – but not until she had gone off to Southern Methodist University and lived in Dallas for a couple of years.

And after returning to complete her degree in corporate finance at Northern Illinois University, she went to work for her family’s business, Stenstrom Companies. But not before she had made her mark at another company to see how things were done there.

“I did think about working at Stenstrom when I was growing up,” Jarrett said, “but for the sake of myself and the company, I knew that I wanted to go work somewhere else for the experience.”

The leadership that Jarrett has developed by thoroughly preparing for challenges has helped her accomplish much on behalf of Rockford’s community organizations. She has served as a Rockford Memorial Hospital Ambassador and on the Rockford Area Economic Leadership Council.

Jarrett also is serving her third term as president of the Golden Apple Foundation’s 26-member board of directors. Since assuming the helm of the organization three years ago at age 28, Jarrett has led the organization through an important stabilization process. She has worked for bread-and-butter improvements throughout school districts too, such as a major expansion of the foundation’s programs so that all teachers in both Winnebago and Boone counties are eligible for recognition and vital classroom grants.