She is passionate about providing good leadership, a strong supportive culture for the employees and opportunities for growth especially among women.
Diane talked about the employees. We learned that a high percentage of the workers are immigrants and refugees. They have a number of Ukranian employees. She learned that the Ukrainian community in Lincoln has primarily 2 churches that serve them. Those churches have been providing a means to send support to Ukraine. TMCO has encouraged employees to donate to the Ukraine support fund and is matching the donations. Those funds are going through the churches to directly support the family and friends of their Ukrainian employees.
She shared that there are so many hurdles that immigrant and refugees face. One example she shared is insurance. They do not understand medical insurance vs. emergency care. They don't know how our Social Security System works and how they can utilize a 401K. People are not immediately eligible for benefits when they move to America - it takes time to get established, get into the workforce, and to get to a position where they are making more than minimum wage.
Diane also talked about the entire wellness program that they have at TMCO. It is not just medical. They have daily challenges such as listen to music, sing a song, day dream, meditate, share a kind word with a co-worker. These are all ways to improve your mental health as well as your physical health.
She has observed that American is often "not the kindest" to families and really hard on women. TMCO has provided financial support for early childhood education - as much as 60% depending on how long they have been employed. Many of these employees are still at minimum wage and they need to cover rent, car, groceries, childcare - so this has been extremely helpful especially for those at minimum wage.
Diane's current project is to install a cafeteria at TMCO. There are a number of goals - to provide healthy meals and nutrition education. But, also to provide employment opportunities for women who may have skills in cooking but no current opportunity to work in that field.
BIO:
Diane Temme Stinton was born and raised in Lincoln. She attended Everett Elementary School and graduated from Lincoln Lutheran Jr./Sr. High School and had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Germany as a sophomore in high school. She went on to graduate from UNL with a BA in German. Diane decided to pursue her first love and study music in the United Kingdom at Bangor University in North Wales. She studied violin, collaborative piano, and above all, musicology. She recently finished her Ph.D. in Music with a dissertation on musical settings of psalms in Counter-Reformation Germany in the late sixteenth century.
She returned to Lincoln in 2015 and works for the family business as the Chief Administrative Officer. TMCO is a mid-size metal manufacturing company located just southwest of the Haymarket. Diane strives to emulate her dad, Roland, in his commitment to caring for his employees and in his dedication to the community.
Diane serves on the Community Health Charities advocating for the NE Community Blood Bank, Junior Achievement, and Lincoln Children’s Zoo boards and is a member of the South of Downtown Coalition Steering Committee. She volunteers with Junior Achievement and is a Teammates mentor at Lincoln High. She is currently the Lincoln Area Director of Dream It Do It! a national non-profit organization that promotes opportunities and careers in manufacturing. She is an adjunct instructor at Doane University and coordinates the Music History curriculum and the strings program and has recently joined the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Working Group at Doane