Altoona native Karen Crosby worked in corporate communications for about 10 years after graduating from Iowa State University, but she felt she was being called to do something else. She decided to leave the workforce to spend time with her young children and figure out her next career move. She decided to return to her alma mater to take courses in managing a non-profit organization, and upon graduating, she was hired last fall by Habitat for Humanity of Iowa as program director for AmeriCorps. Last month, Crosby was invited to Washington, D.C., to participate in “America Build on the National Mall,” a weeklong Habitat project that brought together people from all over the country to build 50 houses to be delivered to families in the Gulf Coast region whose homes were destroyed by hurricanes this fall.

Why did you choose a career in communications during college?

I really liked the whole aspect of communications, and it was something that I was always pretty good at, so that’s why I went with that route in school.

What was your first job out of college?

After I left school, I worked for a major insurance company downtown in its corporate communications department, and I worked there for about 10 years.

I really, really liked the communications work, but I felt like something was missing from my life. It wasn’t maybe as fulfilling as I had hoped. So I decided to take a few years off work to stay home with my kids when they were young. I knew that when I went back to work, I wanted to go in a different direction. So I went back to Iowa State and took some different courses in non-profit management.

How did you get started with Habitat for Humanity?

A job came open here as I was finishing up work on my certificate in non-profit management in the fall of 2004. The program here had just received this grant, and as part of the grant, they hired me as program director. I’ve always been interested in the work that they do and I really believe in the mission, so I felt like it was really fate that brought me here.

What are your job responsibilities?

Working in a non-profit is interesting, because you get to do everything. When you have two people working in an office, you handle everything from taking out the garbage to recruiting, training, hiring and doing payroll. I’m primarily in charge of the AmeriCorps state program, and we have 18 people on staff throughout the state that we supervise from here. As the state-supported organization, we also support the 36 affiliates in Iowa with funding and grant-writing and development.

Do you use your communications background in this job?

This job involves a lot of communications. You have to be a strong communicator both verbally and in writing, because our people are located across the state, and we do a lot of written communications to them.

Has the job been what you expected?

It’s probably better than I expected. I really am a strong believer in community development, and I really believe that you have to help your neighbor. This job has allowed me to do that even more than I expected. The great thing about working for a non-profit is that when we were given the grant, they set some parameters and told us to implement it. It could have been anything that we wanted, really, and that’s really exciting to me.

What was it like to work on the major building project last month in D.C.?

I was one of three people who got to go from our state. We were invited to go to build on the National Mall. Volunteers built 50 houses to represent every state to send down to the hurricane area to be reconstructed there. I worked on the Hawaii house and the Iowa house. My job was primarily in an assembly line to make door headers, and I helped put up a few walls. It was neat to see people from Habitat all across the country come together and work with volunteers from D.C.

Was it inspiring to see so many people working on a Habitat project?

Yes. I had felt really impacted by Katrina, even though I didn’t know anybody down there. It was so hard for me to watch, and I just wanted to get in my car and go down there, but I knew I couldn’t do that. So for me, it was great to be able to go and feel that I helped out, even in a little way.

Are you skilled at building homes?

I’m not the best when it comes to using a hammer, but Habitat is great because you don’t have to know how to hammer or anything. The crew chiefs teach you how to do it, and they have as much fun teaching you, I think, as you have doing it.

What do you do outside of work?

I have two kids to run after, 11 and 7, and I’m kind of a political junkie. I’m involved in the community where I live, Grimes, and involved in church.

Have you found a little bit of what you felt was missing from your life in the corporate sector?

Definitely. I’m a big-picture type person. I need to see the effect of what I’m working on, and here, I’m able to do that. If you have skills and talents, I think that you should channel them to something that is productive and meaningful to you and make what you love your career.