Gillette is entering her fourth year as Park Athletics Director of Athletics and joined the Pirates' staff in the Fall of 2021. She previously served as associate director of athletics/compliance at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan.
While at MNU, Gillette coordinated long-range plans for athletics, including NAIA compliance, financial aid, staffing, strength and conditioning, academic services and recruiting. She also managed game operations for football, men's and women's soccer and basketball, women's volleyball and competitive cheer, and provided administrative oversight of Heart of America Athletic Conference and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics opening round championships hosted at MNU. In addition, she served as liaison to the Association of Student-Athletes Leadership Council.
Prior to joining MNU, Gillette spent nine years at the NAIA in Kansas City, Mo., serving as the director of Champions of Character for six years and three years managing national championships. While at the NAIA, she created the Champions of Character Live 5 program, an online student-athlete NAIA core values (integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership) training. In addition, she worked with councils and committees focused on the health and well-being of student-athletes, while also working directly with student-athletes in various national programs. Gillette also served as liaison to the NAIA's Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion Committee from 2009-17 and the New Member Site Visit Committee from 2015-17.
Gillette also spent time as the sports director at the Paul Henson Family YMCA in Prairie Village, Kan., and she served as the girls basketball head coach at The Barstow School in Kansas City, Mo., for two years and an additional two years as a girls basketball assistant coach at The Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, Mo., helping lead the Raiders to the Missouri Class 3A state championships in 2005 and 2006.
In her first year at Park, she oversaw all three Park volleyball programs making it to NAIA National Championship events. She revamped Park's student-athlete leadership committee by expanding its leadership, worked hands on with student-athlete representatives, and rebranded the group to the Park Association of Student Athletes (ASA). She was also featured by the NAIA during Women's History Month in March 2022, explaining her leadership role and what it means to be an important voice for the women and minorities she serves.
In her first two seasons, Park finished 74th (5th in the Heart) and 97th in the Learfield Director's Cup in 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively.
She has overseen the addition of competitive cheer at Park for the 2024-25 season and has been at the forefront along side Park's Coach Adam Farm and others for the addition of Esports into the Heart of America Athletic Conference. She organized the first-ever Heart League of Legends and Rocket League in-person Conference Championships at Park University.
She has been creative in uniting the Parkville community, alumni, and student-athletes with Arrrgh and Arrrgh, an annual women's networking event that began May 2023.
Gillette earned a Master of Arts degree in sports administration from Gonzaga University and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from William Jewell College. Gillette is a former NAIA student-athlete, playing volleyball and basketball at Hannibal-LaGrange University before transferring to WJC.
