As the executive director of Consumer Credit Counseling of Northern Illinois, Donna Rasmussen manages an organization that gives people the tools to build financial stability.

There’s the ability to work with a counselor to navigate banking, learn how to create a budget and even build credit toward purchases such as buying a car or a home.

It’s exactly the type of program that Rasmussen could have used when she was teenager, sleeping on friends’ couches and worrying if she’d make enough money that week at her waitressing job to purchase gas for her car.

“I get how people feel, and I understand it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You can’t judge or blame someone for not knowing something they’ve never been taught,” Rasmussen said.

Knowing her story, Susan Dobbe-Leahy said Rasmussen is someone who’s been through the ringer, but today she can use her experiences to help others find a path to stable footing.

“She knows the shame and destructive impact of financial limitations, but she knows there are paths to hope,” Dobbe-Leahy said.

Rasmussen is among the 10 honorees of the 2025 Women of Distinction Awards given by Shaw Local/Northwest Herald. The recognition highlights women in McHenry County – nominated by their peers, friends and loved ones – who provide leadership in their fields of expertise; serve as role models and mentors; advocate for positive social change; or give back to their community through time, talent and resources.

In her work leading Woodstock-based Consumer Credit Counseling of Northern Illinois, Rasmussen is often the public face talking about how the agency serves the community, whether it’s helping with the prevention of homelessness or taking steps to build stable financial footing.

As Dobbe-Leahy sees it, there’s multiple layers: Someone who loses their home and is unable to care for their family can teeter on the edge of questioning their self-worth and succumbing to fear and shame.

“People in financial disarray or total loss, sometimes these people contemplate suicide. They think they can’t fix it. It’s heartbreaking they can’t see any hope,” Dobbe-Leahy said.

Rasmussen understands all too well life’s path is anything but clear. She encountered obstacles and challenges, including some she’d rather forget. Rasmussen said she grew up poor, and her home life lacked stability.

“As a young adult, I didn’t have a safe place to live,” she said. “I used to miss school because that’s when I would go to the laundry mat to do laundry, when no one could see me.”

One day she stepped into a naval recruiting office to escape a rainstorm, and as the story goes, she walked out having enlisted. With vulnerabilities and insecurities in her life, the Navy recruitment pitch seemed a good solution, but it wasn’t by any means easy.

“It was hard to be a woman in the military,” Rasmussen said. “That journey changed my life.”

She was based in San Diego during her five-year term, with shore duty and ship duty aboard the USS Dixon AS-37. A minority as a woman aboard a ship, she faced situations she’d rather not recall. For decades, she wouldn’t talk about her service years, wouldn’t recognize herself as a veteran.

After her final tour, she walked off the base, found a job as a computer system administrator and built a new life. The family of the certified public accountant who hired her soon would become like an adopted family for Rasmussen, giving her the support she needed to build a new chapter in her life.

To say there have been challenges would be an understatement, but with each challenge, Rasmussen found strength within herself – whether it was moving to a new city, navigating a divorce or advocating for her son with autism. And when someone told her “can’t” or “won’t,” she fought even harder to prove them wrong.

After years of keeping her Navy service in her past, she began to work through the memories and saw the value in sharing her experiences and her status as a veteran in the community.

“I was really resistant to be a part of the American Legion because I thought I’d be assigned fundraising, bake sales and being a part of the auxiliary,” Rasmussen said. “As a woman veteran, I never really talked about my service. I didn’t think people really cared about women veterans.”

When a woman stepped into a role of leadership at the Woodstock American Legion, Rasmussen said she accepted the call to action. She has become passionate about the Be the One bike ride, which raises awareness of the high rate of suicide among veterans.

“For years, I had not met another woman veteran. Now I know a ton of women veterans,” she said.

Her story still has many chapters to write, and for those like Dobbe-Leahy who’ve had the opportunity to know her, there is admiration for her strength, honesty and pursuit of helping others.

“She’s so strong, yet she wouldn’t say it,” Dobbe-Leahy said. “I so admire her. She just doesn’t take any baloney.”