This is one of 12 finalists for The Herald Business Journal’s annual Emerging Leaders awards for 2022. The winner will be named at an event on April 13.
Alexandria Zitnik-McGinty, 33
Chief development officer, Integrated Rehabilitation Group
Alex Zitnik-McGinty is a longtime member of the Physical Therapy Association of Washington, a national group that promotes professional accountability and excellence.
“Collaboration is so important for the health care profession,” she said.“Sharing information and knowledge is how we collectively get better.”
Zitnik-McGinty is a returning Emerging Leader candidate who made the Top 12 list last year, too.
She is chief development officer at Integrated Rehabilitation Group in Bothell. There she leads the firm’s marketing, outreach and performance service department.
Her volunteer activities cover the spectrum.
Zitnik-McGinty is past chair of the Snohomish County Sports Commission Board and vice-president of the Mukilteo Schools Foundation board. The foundation offers student scholarships and teacher grants.
She’s extended a helping hand to Economic Alliance of Snohomish County, Imagine Children’s Museum, The American Cancer Society and March of Dimes.
She is also part of a medical career pathway program at local schools that offers students the opportunity to job-shadow physical therapists, she said.
“I continue to find groups that resonate with me and volunteer,” Zitnik-McGinty said.
Zitnik-McGinty grew up in Snohomish County and earned a bachelor of science degree in kinesiology from Washington State University.
One of her first career assignments was directing a program aimed at improving the lives of a group of industrial workers. The program was designed to make them healthier and reduce on-the-job injuries.
But her first efforts weren’t exactly met with open arms.
“There I was telling this blue collar, rough-and-tumble crew how they were going to get better,” Zitnik-McGinty recalled. “I don’t think they believed me.”
Convincing this very skeptical group — and herself — that the program could improve their well-being was a challenge.
For advice, she reached out to others in her field for help. They offered advice and support. Learning, listening, asking questions, “figuring out what worked for them was key,” she said.
Her approach yielded results.
The rough-and-tumble crew began to trust me, Zitnik-McGinty said.
As a result, they did indeed get better, she said.
The experience taught her a valuable lesson. “The more work you put in, the more you achieve,” Zitnik-McGinty said.
Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com;
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