Betsy A. Bender ‘86
An Elizabethtown College education is for people who feel the pull to contribute to the world. With a network of 24,425 living alumni, our graduates leave Etown to become the influential advocates and changemakers the world needs more of.
Meet Betsy A. Bender ’86, a Communications alumna who enjoyed a successful career as a marketing and people leader, having held executive positions at organizations including One Main Financial and CitiFinancial. Bender is writing a memoir and currently serves on Etown’s Alumni Council and as a board member for the non-profit Anne Arundel County Public Library.
“Etown’s nurturing community and excellent education prepared me well for a very rewarding career and a fulfilling life of leadership and service. I carried the lessons I learned in the classroom about hard work, preparation, collaboration, and excellence with me throughout my corporate career in marketing.”
What defined your Etown experience?
I fully immersed myself in the Etown experience as a four-year member of the Tennis team, a DJ and music director at WWEC-AM radio, a founding member and producer for ECTV, and a student assistant to the Communications Department chair.
I remain in touch with a wonderful group of friends with whom I lived and enjoyed various activities: campus movies, weekly dances, TGIS (Thank Goodness It’s Spring) weekends, special holiday dinners, etc.
How has your Etown degree benefitted you and your career success?
Etown’s nurturing community and excellent education prepared me well for a very rewarding career and a fulfilling life of leadership and service. I carried the lessons I learned in the classroom about hard work, preparation, collaboration, and excellence with me throughout my corporate career in marketing.
Professors and mentors guided me, not about what to do, but about how to think about what to do when facing choices and making decisions. My participation on the Tennis team and the camaraderie built there informed my leadership style when I built teams of my own at work. Etown’s Educate for Service motto taught me as a student and reminds me as an adult to give my time, talents, and treasure to the organizations and missions most important to me.
How have you made a difference in the lives of others through your career and/or personal life?
I am a board member and on the advocacy committee for the Anne Arundel County Public Library Foundation and previously served on the board of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland for nine years. I also volunteer for Maryland’s Medical Reserve Corp, periodically serving in a logistics capacity for initiatives requiring public health infrastructure and response capabilities such as vaccination site management during the pandemic.
What is your passion? Where do you place your energy besides your career?
Several years ago, I traded my career for the time to explore things that had always interested me but that I never had time to pursue. I’m writing a memoir, researching my genealogy, and giving back to my community.
I’m a lifelong tennis player and still play twice a week year-round, in addition to strength training, walking, hiking, gardening, and traveling with my husband, Brian Lewbart.
View more Etown Changemakers at etown.edu/125.