One L&C Champion - Kris Codron

After working in the Human Resources field for 30+ years, Benefits, Leave and Training Manager Kris Codron is excited to embark on a new adventure: retirement. Across all three L&C campuses, Kris is well known for her calm, rational demeanor. She is not only incredible at what she does, one colleague even remarked that “she also has an innate gift for saying something that you needed to hear without you even knowing you needed to hear it.” Her positive and empathetic attitude, along with her many years of service to Lewis & Clark, are just a few of the reasons why she is an L&C Champion.

No matter how complex your problem or question, Kris always takes the time to explain the solution in ways you can understand. Working with Kris, it is evident that she cares about providing excellent service to employees and helping them understand how to best utilize Lewis & Clark’s benefits to their advantage. It’s an honor to have worked with her. Please read Kris’ words below to learn a bit more about her, and why we have been blessed to work with her.

“I’m pretty passionate about the Lewis & Clark benefit plan. I have seen a lot of changes in my time here, and I think the college does a good job of providing an extremely generous package. I love helping people understand their benefits and take advantage of free products like the Employee Assistance Program, which really has something for everyone.

On a personal level, Breast Cancer Awareness is a big deal to me. Fortunately, I am not a survivor, but I know so many people who have dealt with or are dealing with this disease, and the college has lost a number of employees to breast cancer. Prior to COVID I was volunteering with the Pink Lemonade Project out of Vancouver, and will likely get back involved with it next year.

I love to work remotely. I have a great setup at home, and no real distractions. I think that being able to have lunch with my husband every day during the last year and a half has strengthened our relationship, and I am actually more productive since I tend to work during the hours that I would normally commute (about an hour each way on a good day…). I also feel that I got closer to many employees during that time because we were all going through the same thing on different levels, and the different programs such as the ONE L&C Olympics and the 21-day challenge connected me with other people I wouldn’t normally interact with, and pushed me even further to learn about and discuss some big issues that were happening around the country and the world.

I’m an avid reader, fiber arts addict, walker, cook and movie-goer.

• I’m in a book club that was started about 9 or 10 years ago, and we are still going strong. We already have our reading list out to 2023, and we actually READ the books and get together once a month to discuss them. During lockdown we just did zoom. So many books, so little time - that’s why I love audiobooks so much - I can listen to them while doing something else.
• My fiber arts goal is to actually make a pair of socks this next year.
• I completed a 10k on December 12th, and am going to try to get 2 half marathons in during 2022, along with at least 4 10ks.
• Cooking is where my magic comes out - I love the challenge of creating something delicious from whatever I have in the fridge.
• My movie tastes might surprise people - I’m not into RomComs, but love action (John Wick), adventure, and super heros (yes, I’m that geeky!)

The thing that gives me the greatest joy is helping people. I get a chance to do that in my job now, whether explaining benefits to a new hire, helping someone who is losing coverage enroll, or assisting an employee who needs leave for their own health situation or that of a family member. I look forward to the opportunity to work with nonprofit organizations in Vancouver after I retire to continue to provide service to my community.”

Please mark your calendar for Kris Codron’s Retirement Open House on March 23 at noon.