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2017 Men of the Year: Mike Brothers

Drury University

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Mike Brothers is a born communicator. As the media relations director at Drury University, as well as a board member for Leadership Springfield and the Rountree Neighborhood Association, Brothers constantly is working to improve the voice of the Springfield community.

Brothers first jumped into the world of communications as a journalist for the Springfield News-Leader in 2000. Seven years later, he shifted into public relations, where he’s worked for the city of Springfield and the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
 
At the private university, Brothers has been the school’s voice through multiple years of transition. He’s been in constant contact with the Springfield community about the good and bad times the university has faced over the last few years, including a reduction in tenured faculty positions and a sudden death of a star swimmer.

“It’s been a wild few years, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he says of communications challenges. “I am able to help Drury find its voice, and be a voice for the institution when it comes to speaking with media and stakeholder groups.”

When he isn’t speaking for the university, Brothers has served on the Leadership Springfield board for the past four years, most recently as communications committee chairman and vice president before his July appointment to board president.

The group’s mission is to inspire, develop and connect current and future leaders by exposing them to the city’s strengths and weaknesses so they can discover where they can make an impact.

“This is without a doubt a working board, and while the demands are great, I’m truly honored to work with, and to have the opportunity to lead, this group,” Brothers says.

As president, Brothers plans to focus on two themes: credibility and continuity.

“It’s imperative the organization displays continuity with the past, but does not lose its credibility in the midst of change,”  he says.

Serving the community at work and in his free time, it only makes sense Brothers would serve at home, too. A member of the Rountree Neighborhood Association board, he says Rountree isn’t a typical neighborhood and this isn’t a typical neighborhood board.  Brothers hopes his communication skills can increase transparency and build trust. As a former city of Springfield employee, he wants to help bridge the gap as development pressures increase in the area.

“Strong neighborhoods are vital to a healthy community and I’m proud to play a part in making ours as strong as possible,” he says. “The city is engaged and our neighbors are pleased they feel their voices are being heard.”

Brothers’ connection to the city isn’t far from his mind. It led to his proudest accomplishment to date – helping pass a 3/4-cent sales tax to support the ailing Police and Fire department pension fund in November 2009. Without this funding, Springfield could have been forced to declare bankruptcy.

“That tax was vital to the well-being of the community and we are still feeling the effects of that action today,” he says, noting he believes it also shaped him personally. “That was when I began to realize that I might have what it takes to lead.”

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