Stories

Matthew is a third-generation Shriner, joking that “from my earliest memories I remember men in funny hats running around and having fun.” Starting in 2002, they both served in local leadership roles, including Matthew on the local board of directors in Fargo. After seven years, they turned their attention internationally on membership and leadership development.

Matthew is now serving his third of ten years as a member of the Board of Directors for Shriners International and Shriners Children’s. This summer, he was elected Imperial Second Ceremonial Master, part of the 12-member body that helps govern the nearly  200,000-member Shriners fraternity.  

Much of their training is delivered in person to hundreds of people at a time, which means 12-hour days and weekends spent volunteering are commonplace for the Sturlaugsons. They typically catch a nighttime flight for their volunteering sessions with laptops in hand, working for the bank early in the morning and volunteering mid-day before returning to their work after. Matthew has been with the bank 26 years, and Mandii for 25 years. The two, in fact, met as colleagues in the mid-1990s at First Bank before it was purchased by U.S. Bank. They’ve since raised three kids.

“We don’t really take family vacations. Instead, we take every opportunity we can to involve our children – if we know we are travelling for a volunteer event, we take them with us,” Mandii said. “We want to make sure we are raising humble hearts, and it’s a gift to us that we can involve them.”

The Sturlaugsons unexpectedly experienced the Shriners as a patient family in 2018, when their youngest daughter, Gabriella, was diagnosed with scoliosis. She had been an avid competitive gymnast since kindergarten, and the diagnosis forced the heartbreaking decision for her to leave the sport early. She’s receiving treatment at a Shriners Children’s hospital, which has a world-renowned team of pediatric orthopedic providers, to help manage her scoliosis through a series of back braces.

“People often ask us, ‘how can you give so much time to this philanthropy and still be employed?’” Mandii said. “Our response is that we are very proud of our employer for allowing us to be so flexible, and we make sure that our non-paying job never impacts our paying job. The opportunities the bank has provided for us to give back – I don’t think we would’ve ever seen in any other organization.”