Burwell’s dedication to serving others started in West Virginia

Sylvia M. Burwell’s official portrait when she served as Secretary of Health & Human Services. (Health and Human Resources Photo)

Whether it be inside the White House or on the campus of American University, Sylvia M. Burwell embraces her West Virginia roots with pride.

Why wouldn't she?

Hinton, West Virginia, is where she learned the importance of helping and serving others; a core value that's equipped her to succeed in some of our country's most prominent positions.

"In our house, you couldn't go trick-or-treating before you went trick-or-treating for UNICEF," Burwell said in a recent interview on the Mountaineer Media Podcast. "The idea of service started there."

President Barack Obama drops by the Rural Council meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House, Feb. 3, 2016. The President is flanked by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, left, and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell at right. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

From those early days growing up in the small Summers County community to now, she's continued to serve.

Today, she's the president of American University, the first woman to hold the position. Previously, she held cabinet positions for both President Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Here's President Obama introducing her as his Secretary for Health and Human Resources in 2014.

And those positions shouldn't shadow the decade she spent working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, either.

I implore you; please read her Wikipedia page here. I'm not sufficiently giving her resume justice.

Nonetheless, Burwell's early education of giving to others and working together has been a key to her success.

"Some of the concepts one learns in a community of that size, as you know as part of West Virginia, are the ideas of service and doing your best," she said. "That time was the trajectory that led me to do the things that I've done."

President Bill Clinton (middle) and Sylvia M. Burwell. The man to the left is Jack Lew. Lew was Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Presidents Clinton and Barack Obama. (White House Photo)

In her recent interview with the Mountaineer Media Podcast, Burwell also discussed her time serving with two former United States Presidents, her vision for American University, as well as, her days in Hinton.

Here's a memory she shared about President Clinton while the two were on a trip in Russia.

You can listen to the Hinton native's entire interview wherever you get your podcasts.