Published on Show Me Mizzou April 24, 2025
Social work superhero
Freddie Avant | Associate Dean and Director | School of Social Work
Stephen F. Austin State University
As an undergraduate, Freddie Avant, MSW ’82, mentored disadvantaged kids and realized social work was his calling. “I wanted to be a superhero,” Avant says. “Whenever I saw kids being bullied, I wanted to fly in and help them.”
Now, as associate dean and director of the School of Social Work at Stephen F. Austin State University, he prepares students for the challenges they will face as social workers.
“It’s not possible to fix all social problems, but I show students how they can change lives in so many ways,” Avant says. He also participates in alumni panels at Mizzou, where he tells health sciences students how they can make a difference.
“Mizzou helped me turn my passion for helping others into reality,” Avant says. “The foundation of who I am is Mizzou — it’s shaped my life.”
Transforming health care through teamwork
Natalie Caine | Chief Administrative Officer | Mayo Clinic
When it comes to better patient care, it really does take a village to succeed.
“When a team of experts works together to develop comprehensive, customized care plans, it leads to better outcomes for patients,” says Natalie Caine, MHA ’05, chief administrative officer at Mayo Clinic. “We’re the first and largest integrated group medical practice, which enables us to work on the most difficult to diagnose cases.”
Mayo Clinic’s commitment to teamwork is evident in its dyad leadership model, where Caine provides administrative leadership and oversight alongside Amy W. Williams, MD, the executive dean of the practice. This multidisciplinary approach is present throughout the health system, ensuring that each physician is paired with an administrative leader.
“As part of our leadership model, administrators rotate through different areas of the organization over time, allowing us to see how the different parts of Mayo Clinic work together,” Caine says. “I love being able to work with a team on challenging projects, where we have an opportunity to advance new innovation to support our patients and our staff, to ultimately bring more hope and healing.”
During her 20-year career at Mayo, Caine has remained connected to Mizzou’s College of Health Sciences. She served on the college’s MHA alumni board, mentors health administration students and even works with several fellow Mizzou alumni at Mayo.
“Mizzou has made a lasting impact on my life,” Caine says. “I’ve received so much from the MHA program and formed so many meaningful connections over the years.”
Language links
Kennedi Keyes | Speech-Language Pathologist | Wentzville Public Schools
As a speech-language pathologist, Kennedi Keyes, BHS ’19, MHS ’21, enjoys helping patients of all ages improve their communication abilities. But shortly after entering the workforce, she discovered a special passion for working with children.
“You really get to build relationships with the kids,” says Keyes, who works for Wentzville Public Schools. “And through those relationships, you help them build their language, communication and social skills.” Keyes tries to create a safe space where students feel comfortable enough to tell her about their days, lives and interests — even if they don’t quite know how to express themselves. Keyes says once, a student even sang her Christmas wish list to her instead of speaking. “Building that trust makes it so much easier to find things they want to talk about,” she says. “From there, I can support their needs.”
Type A (and B, AB, and O) personality
Chris Hrouda | President, Biomedical Services | American Red Cross
Mizzou grads have held just about every type of leadership imaginable, from CEOs of multinational corporations to university administrators to heads of state. But Chris Hrouda, BHS ’87, might oversee the most vital resource of any Tiger leader: America’s blood supply.
As president of American Red Cross Biomedical Services, Hrouda oversees blood collection, testing, manufacturing and distribution for the iconic nonprofit. Since being promoted to the top spot in 2017, he has led through hurricanes, floods and wildfires — not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic. He has made sure the Red Cross kept critical supplies of blood flowing to millions in need.
Hrouda has been with the Red Cross since 1988, when he was a medical technologist at University of Missouri Hospital and Clinics for the Missouri-Illinois region. Since then, he has served within the organization, including as CEO of the Southern region, division vice president of the Southeast division and executive vice president.
Tackling the taboo
Sarah Miller | Founder & Physical Therapist | Revive Rehab
Sarah Miller has learned to embrace awkward conversations. As founder of Columbia’s Revive Rehab and Wellness, when she talks to patients about pelvic floor health, there’s no such thing as TMI. “I want them to feel comfortable advocating for themselves and having an open conversation so we can figure out solutions,” Miller says.
Miller, DPT ’21, helps patients deal with everything from discomfort during sex and bowel issues to painful periods and urinary leakage. She also treats chronic lower back pain and hip pain that hasn’t been resolved with traditional stretches and exercises.
Miller worked as a pelvic floor physical therapist through MU Health Care before launching Revive in April 2024. Growing a practice can be stressful, but Miller has created relationships with women that she hopes to maintain from first children to late life.
“I get to grow with their family,” Miller says.
Adjust, adapt, achieve
Ramone Hankle | Manager & Scrum Master | CIBC
As a former Division II athlete at Tuskegee University, Ramone Hankle, BHS ’15, had to learn how to pivot when he hung up his football cleats after his freshman year. Now, he reacts and adapts to find the best career path. As a student, he thought he’d go into nursing. Then he
developed a different interest, resulting in an IT career in industries ranging from health insurance to aviation and now finance as a manager and scrum master at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
Hankle credits his parents and his professors at Mizzou’s College of Health Sciences for teaching him how to adjust, adapt and achieve. He passes along that same message to students. “At alumni panels, I tell students it’s OK to rewrite their career plan,” he says. “The College of Health Sciences is giving them the skill set to be successful no matter how they pivot.”
Hankle continues to evolve today by moonlighting as a real estate agent. His goal? To build affordable housing as a community developer.
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