On first glance, Hallie Isadore’s job as database and donor services specialist at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is administrative. She spends most of her time managing the Development Office’s databases, including updating contact information for individuals, processing financial gifts, and working with the Financial Aid and Business offices to maintain records for Seminary endowments.
It’s All About Relationships
But Hallie is no mere pencil-pusher or numbers-cruncher. Though she does describe herself as a detail-oriented person who figures out how to get things done. What makes her invaluable to PTS is her relational skills. Hallie develops positive relationships with PTS alumnae/i, friends, and donors. With her husband Dan ’13, a chaplain at the University of Pittsburgh, she hosts college students in their home most nights. And in a previous job, she once spent a day hosting Ruth Bader Ginsburg. More on that later.
“Really, my job [at PTS] is to do customer service,” Hallie says. “What drew me to this role, specifically, was that I have always been about hospitality and hearing people’s stories, listening to them and seeing how they’ve done things in the past and want to grow.”
Hallie’s Journey to PTS
Hallie first became familiar with Pittsburgh Seminary when Dan enrolled as a student in 2010. After one semester at a different seminary, he decided to transfer to PTS. He wanted to study in a space where asking deep questions in the learning process were welcomed.
“What drew us here, was that it’s a place where everybody across the theological spectrum is welcome to the table to join the conversation. Dan wanted to go somewhere he’d be able to grow, be challenged, and ask questions.”
After Dan finished his coursework in 2012, Dan was called to Missoula, Mont., for a church planting opportunity, and Hallie soon found a job at the University of Montana. But the church plant wasn’t what they expected. So after nine months they returned to Pittsburgh, and haven’t looked back. Soon after that, in 2013, Hallie started work at Pittsburgh Seminary.
Helping Others Learn and Grow
She began as the office manager for Admissions. There, she used her administrative and relational skills to coordinate campus visits and assist Seminary applicants. Before long she was promoted to admissions counselor, and in 2019 moved into the position she currently holds.
Hallie loved working in Admissions, but thought it was time for a new challenge. “I wanted to go from serving the smaller group of incoming students to now serving alumnae/i, friends, and donors of the Seminary. I wanted to stretch myself and grow my skillset.”
Her favorite part of this job, and all the jobs she’s held, is the personal interactions. “I love being with people, learning about them, and helping them grow,” she says. This is why she enjoys hosting college students in her home nearly every night, despite how all-consuming that can be. She says, “I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love being with people in the hard areas of life—not trying to solve it for them, but just being with them and helping them work through it and then seeing them grow.”
Meeting RBG
Hallie doesn’t like telling the story about how she met the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It’s not in her nature to fawn over famous people with important titles. But that’s probably why, as the events coordinator for the University of Montana President’s Office, Hallie was assigned to be Justice Ginsburg’s personal chauffer and host when she gave a lecture there in 2013.
“My role was to not harass her, make sure others didn’t bother her, and to make sure she was cared for. It’s really not a story,” she explains. In fact, Hallie stayed quiet while with Ginsburg, knowing that everywhere Ginsburg went people asked her questions and wanted her time and attention. Hallie believed her job was to stay out of the way and do things in the background that freed up other people, like Ginsburg or the university president, to do their job well.
Impacting Others with Her Hospitality
“I thought she was great,” Hallie says of Ginsburg. But spend any time with Hallie and you’ll see that she treats everyone, not just Supreme Court Justices, with respect and appreciation. Her gift of hospitality is apparent in her work at PTS. She says:
“We have hundreds of people coming through the doors—whether it’s as master’s students, at continuing education events, or our other resource programs and the museum—who then go out into their communities and do vital forms of ministry. What I like about this place is that we’re able to equip people [to do that]. We are impacting a lot of people doing a lot of really awesome things. We have the ability to affect people at a deeper level than most people think about.”