2023 Most Influential Women: Lisa Odom

Jason Hynson sees firsthand how Lisa Odom approaches her endeavors in the spirit of collaboration, dedication and respect for others.

“Lisa gives of herself wherever she serves,” says Hynson, executive director and CEO of Victory Mission & Ministry. “She is the type of woman who influences those around her to be better and to see the vision of a better community for the benefit of all.”

Odom, a senior management consultant at FORVIS LLP, and Hynson met through the Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast, and she has served on Victory Mission’s board for four years.

“Her passion to engage with deep relationships shows her willingness to impact others,” Hynson says. “She knows it is the connections with others where individuals can connect and influence change.

“Service above self at Rotary and at Victory are evident in her life.”

Much of Odom’s professional life has combined finance and health care. The certified public accountant previously had an eight-year stint at FORVIS, where she prepared Medicare and Medicaid annual, interim and rate-setting cost reports for federally qualified health centers and skilled nursing facilities .

In 2005, Odom moved to Mercy, where she worked on the health system’s revenue management team responsible for ensuring the outpatient departments for nearly two dozen Mercy hospitals were in compliance with federal regulations. After five years in that role, she became the director of finance at Jordan Valley Community Health Center, where she quickly moved into the chief financial officer position. Odom was a key leader on an $8.5 million expansion project at the health center, and she worked closely on the sale of the center’s pharmacy to Walgreens.

Her next CFO role in 2016 took her to Cox HealthPlans, where she was responsible for in-network provider contracting within a 26-county service area. In both CFO positions, Odom grew revenue – by 75% at the Jordan Valley clinic and more than 30% at Cox. She was hired at FORVIS in July.

Odom seeks to influence through being a role model.

“I have always been an individual who would never ask a fellow co-worker or employee to do something that I would not do myself and am a firm believer in living by example, and so that is what I have always done,” she says. “I have had individuals in my career that were impactful to me, and because of that I am 100% committed to be impactful to others.”

In addition to her board work with Victory Mission, Odom has volunteered for the boards of her Rotary Club, Don’t Meth With Us and the Missouri Primary Care Association. She considers her time with Victory Mission especially rewarding, because she sees change in real time.

“The proud, personal reward is that I know in some small way my gifts and talents are being used to indirectly help the Victory Mission graduates,” she says. “(They) leave as contributing members of society with relationships restored, and you can see the old become new.”

Hynson says Odom’s goal is helping organizations serve others.

“Lisa is a woman of high character and integrity,” he says. “Her willingness to help this community is clear to see.”