It was a chance sighting at the grocery store that brought Stacy Ede to the University of Michigan in 2005.
Ede had just interviewed for a job as a Human Resources representative at the university. She went home, changed into some comfortable clothes and made her way to get some groceries.
That’s when Sabrina Owens — who had interviewed Ede earlier in the day — recognized her in line.
“She kind of pulled me to the side as a fellow HR professional,” Ede recalls. “She said, ‘Look, let me tell you: you’re overqualified for this job.’”
Owens told Ede she knew of a human resources job in facilities and operations that better matched her qualifications and wanted to pass on her resume. This was the start of a career at Michigan and a lifelong friendship between the two.
“Our thing was we would rather have her working in another area of the university than to lose her at all,” Owens recalls.
Ede worked in facilities and operations for eight years before joining the Division of Public Safety and Security (DPSS), developing the human resources component since its inception.
Her responsibilities involved training, finance, human resources and union negotiations, among other duties.
“It is a sense of pride to be able to say, ‘I work for one of the premier universities, not just in the United States, but in the world,’” Ede explained when talking about why she likes being at DPSS. “I would say the culture of work is not the only thing. The whole notion (that) we understand that people are more than just their job, even though the work is hard in a public safety environment.”
Ede added that she not only met the challenge of building and leading the HR function in the Division of Public Safety and Security, she’s made it excel. “I would say we’re very high functioning now,” she says. Ede is also currently the Interim Senior Director of Workforce Development and Support Services. Serving on the university’s leadership team is another challenge she was unsure of at first, but one she’s embraced.
Owens, Ede’s best friend, is not surprised at all. She says DPSS Chief of Staff takes a comprehensive approach, which gives her the ability to work with others at any level. Owens adds that Ede has great skills at counseling, advising staff, and mentoring, and has an extremely good financial background.
“I’m not surprised that she’s been elevated to that position and level,” Owens says. “One thing about [her] work, she’s very professional (and) extremely bright. When I think about her, she’s very thoughtful and intentional in the work that she does.”
Ede just takes it all in stride, knowing there’s more to accomplish at Michigan.
“I’m not huge on self-promotion,” Ede says. “I hope my story can be somebody else’s survival guide because they can hear how I did it.”