Ramona Baylor

Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a Board Member:

Twenty-one years in the US Army as a Human Resources professional and leader taught me how to work with leaders at all levels and strategize to ensure the mission was completed. The military experience afforded me the ability to be mentored and groomed and share those experiences with my Soldiers. Leading in difficult situations has prepared me to serve in future leadership positions in my personal and professional life by dealing with situations in a calm and reserved manner. My relevant work experience in the last 12 years as a Federal and Civilian Employee in the Human Resources arena has prepared me to work alongside my team and senior leaders ensuring we had a vision of excellence. In this vision of excellence, I displayed to my team and leaders, to face issues head on, prepare a plan with several course of actions, and execute the plan in a professional and timely manner. My exposure to diverse cultures, leaders from around the world, and high stressed environments has developed my leadership capabilities to be open to all views. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are three areas I lead by and ensuring each person has a voice. Based on my experience and values I live by, I would be an asset to the Board because I am focused on listening to each person's view, a leader with a multitude of experience and knowledge, and a future thinker.

What experience do you have in strategic planning?

As a Manpower Officer assigned to the United States European Command (USEUCOM), Stuttgart, Germany, 2007, she strategically collaborated with all four services (Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines) to create the Joint Manning Document (JMD) for the new United States Africa Command. Her strategic knowledge on personnel and budget ensured a successful transition by eliminating positions and budget from USEUCOM to create the new USAFRICOM. Served on the senior leadership team at Medline Industries, West Jefferson, Ohio who met weekly to prepare the branch for the newly allocated Ohio State contract worth 1.5 billion dollars. The team collaborated on how to best distribute cost, service, and people, making significant changes to ensure we provided excellent customer service to our new customer and existing customer totaling 4 billion dollars in contracts.

What experience do you have in the area of finance?

As the Senior Human Resources Manager, I oversaw 25 million of dollars of payroll for over 800 Soldiers when assigned in a combat zone. As the Accounts Payable Officer in Iraq, responsible for $300,000 dollars which was utilized for in country contracts with the local Iraqis. As the Payroll Manager, was responsible for over 2800 Federal employees payroll at an Army Medical Center ensuring the United States Code was administered for medical and non-medical professionals. I currently partner with senior leaders weekly at a Distribution Center of over 500 employees ensuring we maintain our cost ceiling by maintaining a low percentage of overtime. Served on the senior leadership team at Medline Industries, West Jefferson, Ohio who met weekly to prepare the branch for the newly allocated Ohio State contract worth 1.5 billion dollars.

What experience do you have in developing policies?

I served on the Lean Team at US EPA Human Resources Division to develop a new onboarding policy, streamlined the need for electronic versus paper and the time to onboard a federal employee from two weeks to one. As the Employee Services Branch Supervisor, developed the first Civilian Sponsorship Program for the onboarding of all Federal Employees at the Army Medical Center. This affected over 600 employees from the date of inception. As the Payroll Manager, collaborated with US Army Finance team to ensure the implementation of the new Title 38 changes, she incorporated these policies by partnering with senior military and hospital leaders.

What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?

I learned from previous leadership positions in the military, federal government, and Toastmasters that I must lead with empathy in all situations. My Soldiers and employees shared that listening to their personal and professional needs allowed our relationship to grow and it encouraged them to be their best. Building the bridge and ensuring each voice is heard is a lesson I learned early in my military career. Utilizing this thought process allowed my peers, senior leaders, and I to collaborate effectively on strategies to better the organization. As a leader in Toastmasters, I learned that leading with humility and transparency goes a long way. While serving as a Club Officer, I learned from my team to be more informal and take the time to learn more about each person. This lesson assisted all future leadership positions in and outside of Toastmasters. As the first District Director of District 117 I let me team know that I needed their knowledge and experience for the whole district to be successful during our first year. My leadership team felt their voice and opinion was vital when we served as the first leadership team during the inaugural year. Involving leaders at all levels is important to the team's success, their feedback was integral to my growth as a leader. Making changes to my training and leadership style were a product of the 360 feedback while on the Trio and as Region Advisor. Receiving feedback during all levels of my leadership journey have been my greatest lessons; this is how I was able to make changes that affected many.

What experience and key strengths would you bring to the Board of Directors?

My vast leadership experience in the US Army of 21 years working alongside leaders of all ranks and from different countries would be an asset on the Board of Directors, comprised of leaders from around the world. My experience serving in the US Army abroad with NATO and US European Command brings a wide knowledge of diversity, culture, customs, and policies. In my military service as a Senior Human Resources Manager, I constantly collaborated with leaders of all levels to assess and execute policies and missions. My key strengths are people first, facing challenges head on, and collaboration. People first; we must know and understand our colleagues in order to build the bridge of partnership and respect. Leading with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will ensure all voices are heard and respected. Facing challenges head on; I see challenges as opportunities and never back down from them, they actually ignite my curiosity. I will work with the Board of Directors to fully understand the challenge, collaborate on several course of actions and a timeline to face this challenge head on. We would then present the proposed challenge with proposed solutions.

Why do you want to serve as an International Officer/Director?

I want to serve as an International Officer to work alongside a diverse team of leaders while pursuing excellence towards our strategic vision. I want to bring my experience in strategic planning and policy development to the Board as well as expand that knowledge by serving on the Board. I have significant leadership experience to share with others which is an attribute of a successful International Director. I have a high level of integrity and ethical conduct which are significant qualities to have while acting as an ambassador for the organization. I want to serve as an International Director to strategize and collaborate with other Board members while setting the organization.

What volunteer experience do you have outside of Toastmasters?

I serve as a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio. I serve as a member of the Medline Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. I serve as a member of the Medline Veteran Engagement Team and the Communications committee within this team. I served as a mentor to elementary students for the three years while stationed in Stuttgart, Germany.

Have you worked with other Boards of Directors outside of Toastmasters? If so, describe your experience.

I served on the Board of Trustees of the Living Aligned Virtual Ministry (LAVM); Strategic Communications Specialist and Vice President. During the first year of LAVM, served as the Strategic Communications Specialist where I oversaw our online communications via our online platform and worked closely with the team to ensure we met the needs of our members. I was responsible for reaching out to the local Public Relations outlets for announcements. During the second year I was asked to be the Vice President. As the second in charge, I met with the President bi-weekly to discuss budget, training, events, and planning the organization's five-year strategic plan. I oversaw the strategic planning with the team and subcommittees monthly. My previous experience with strategic planning assisted in this role as VP of LAVM.

In your opinion, what are Toastmasters International’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?

In my opinion Toastmasters International's major objectives are; to become the number one resource for Public Speaking and Leadership development, retaining and growing our membership, and providing a high-quality education program to include the platform. I would work alongside the other Board members to ensure we are pursuing all avenues of public relations, expanding our partnership with Rotary, developing new partnerships around the world, over educating members on creating new clubs, and utilizing Pathways Ambassadors. Leadership development can be a separate objective, ensuring leaders at all levels receive the same training with the same information in order to maintain consistency in our organization. Growing our membership, expanding our reach around the world is vital to achieving this objective. Utilizing our available resources (us) to seek other partnerships around the world. Retaining membership revolves around inclusivity, meeting each member's needs, and relevant club meetings. In order to get better we need feedback and insight from our members, this also empowers the members to know they were involved in the change!Finally, our education program is top-notch and we need ambassadors to be energetic and share the values of Pathways. We need to get to 100% enrollment by all members within two weeks of joining. When we accomplish the above-mentioned goals, the member is seen, heard, and satisfied that their dues payment and personal involvement in Toastmasters is well worth it.

Additional information about candidate:

Lean Six Sigma black belt qualified.
Contract Service Representative qualified.
Continues to pursue her education by taking finance, budget, and leadership courses.
Married to Ben of 17 years and they have a daughter Brianna.