Each year, the Corridor Business Journal shines a spotlight on young professionals who have made a meaningful impact on the region early in their careers. We are proud to introduce you to the 20th class of Forty Under 40 honorees, chosen by a committee of past honorees. Connor Downes Human Resources Director | UI Health […]
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Connor Downes
Human Resources Director | UI Health Care
Age: 33
Family: Wife, Emily; son, Cohen; daughter, Kennedy
Residence: North Liberty, Iowa
Hometown: Rosemount, Minnesota
Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration
Who do you consider your local mentors? Kyle Anson, interim associate vice president for human resources, UI Health Care Robert Stewart, senior IT director, UI Health Care Lee Carmen, associate vice president for information systems & CIO, UI Health Care Best advice you ever received? My sixth-grade teacher, Mr. H at Rosemount Middle School, taught me how to get past my, at times, debilitating state of worry. He helped me understand that nothing positive comes from that level of worrying and nothing in life is worth worrying that much about to where it becomes all-consuming. It was a transformational lesson in my young life that I have carried with me all these years, enabling me to refocus challenges and work my way through them in a more level-headed way.What do you consider your "big break" in your career, so far? The first thing that comes to mind is getting my first Health Care Human Resources job at the University of Missouri with the Missouri Orthopedic Institute. With that position, and each subsequent position here at UI Health Care, I found a career field I am deeply passionate about and one that provides me meaning each and every day.
What’s something people should know about your generation in the workplace? We are extremely hard working and passionate about the work we do, but we also want to know that the work we do has meaning. If we ask questions about the way something works or the “why” behind something, it doesn’t mean we are against it, it means we are looking for a deeper connection and possibly finding a better way to do it. I also think our generation emphasizes work-life balance, meaning we want to be able to be fully present in both our professional and personal lives.
What would most people be surprised to learn about you? I played wheelchair basketball, even attending the University of Missouri to play as a collegiate athlete on the Mizzou Wheelchair Basketball team and representing the USA on an Under 20 team that went to Australia and won a gold medal. Wheelchair basketball afforded me, and my brother, many opportunities in our lives, and I am extremely thankful for the sport, especially for the community of teammates and friends I made throughout the years. It is a large part of the reason I am so passionate about health care and Orthopedic Surgery in particular.
