Two Concordia College graduates, Courtney Backen ’14 and Becca Hagen ’97, have been recognized as 2025 Women in Business honorees by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. The award celebrates women for their professional achievements, leadership, and community involvement across industries.
Hagen, vice president of Talent Management at Securian Financial, said her Concordia experience continues to shape her career.
“Reflecting on my time at Concordia and its impact on me, I believe Concordia provided me, and continues to provide others, a solid foundation on which to build a career,” Hagen said. “Specifically, I value the well-rounded education, global perspective, and the practical experiences I gained through a liberal arts grounding, service leadership, study abroad, and internship opportunities.”
Backen, director of development at GiveMN, traces her career directly back to her experience at Concordia.
“I owe my entire nonprofit career to my time at Concordia,” Backen said. “As an English literature major, I was deeply influenced by my mentors, Jonathan Steinwand and David Sprunger, who taught me how to write compellingly and question the status quo. As a history major, I took Rick Chapman’s Religion and Philanthropy in American Culture class, which became the catalyst for my career as a fundraiser.”
Backen added that her experience working alongside Dr. Chapman, Dr. Joan Kopperud, Dr. Roy Hammerling, Dr. Mike Bath, Gat-Kier Machar, and Ron Twedt gave her hands-on experience as the student president of Cobbers for PACODES. PACODES, or the Panyijiar Community Development Services, is a nonprofit to aid and improve the education, health, humanitarian aid, agriculture, faith, and lifestyle of the people of Panyijiar County in southern Sudan.
“It’s an experience I cherish and credit as the beginning of my professional journey,” she said.