Board Member Profile: Trevor Bates

Trevor Bates, a member of the United Church Homes Board of Directors, led a session on emotionally intelligent leadership at the 2018 UCH Leadership, Education, Achievement, Development, Success (LEADS) class. Born and raised on the west side of Chicago, Trevor has a long history in academia and shared his expertise with LEADS participants.

Trevor grew up in an impoverished and high crime area of Chicago. His immediate family relocated to Kansas City, Kansas, when he was about 12 years old, to seek a better life.

“We experienced many years of personal challenges, but we always knew that God was with us and for us,” Trevor said.

After earning a high school diploma from Summer Academy of Arts and Sciences and an International Baccalaureate certificate in biology, mathematics and Spanish, Trevor went to Millikin University in Illinois, majoring in athletic training. Trevor served as a teaching assistant, student worker and manager of the fitness center. He graduated magna cum laude. He later earned a Master of Science in kinesiology with an emphasis in sports medicine from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

As a graduate assistant, Trevor taught undergraduate courses, provided clinical athletic training services to the Wheelchair Sports programs and served as a predoctoral fellow, assisting with administrative tasks related to athletic training assessment and accreditation within the College of Community Health and Kinesiology.

Trevor earned a Doctor of Health Sciences with a concentration in leadership and organizational behavior from A.T. Still University of Health Sciences.

Since June 2017, he has served as vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty at Mercy College of Ohio in Toledo. Trevor is also an associate professor of health sciences at the college.

Trevor has a special interest in professional development of all staff. Other interests include pain perception and associated healthcare choices; emotional intelligence assessment in hiring; and leadership decision making and perspectives.

Trevor joined the UCH Board of Directors in February 2017 after learning about the organization from Rev. Kenneth Daniel, president and CEO.

“Rev. Daniel described the mission and vision of UCH and the role of the Board, and I was very intrigued,” Trevor said. “I have visited communities and gotten to know several outstanding staff members through my previous professional academic role at Heidelberg University (in Tiffin, Ohio), preparing students seeking internships as they were pursuing a career in the healthcare field. Rev. Daniel asked me to consider becoming a member of the Board, and I was very honored to be invited to serve. After conversations with my wife and prayer, I enthusiastically accepted.”

United Church Homes is committed to developing new leaders who can advance to roles of greater responsibility and chart new and interesting career paths. This can lead to better employee retention. The first LEADS class completed the program in October 2016.

UCH partners with the Alber Enterprise Center at Ohio State University at Marion to offer the class annually.

At LEADS, Trevor put into practice his interest in developing future leaders to support organizational culture and succession planning. He learned about the opportunity when the first group of LEADS graduates presented to the Board. Trevor provided practical information learned through his research and experiences.

“I may have enjoyed the session as much, if not more, than the participants,” Trevor said. “We had some great conversations and the group was very engaged.

“The most fulfilling part of being on the Board is being a part of an organization where the love for Christ and what he did to serve others is the most important thing on everyone’s mind as we engage in discussions, planning and taking actions on behalf of the organization,” Trevor said.

Trevor’s goal is to find ways to use the gifts God gave him to contribute to a group of very talented and accomplished Board members.