Leadership Ashland continues developing community leaders; 31st class graduates
The Leadership Ashland program graduated its 31st class during a program June 23 at Paradise Found Event Center where 21 community leaders were recognized for completion of the program and one Leadership Ashland Alumnus was recognized with the Outstanding Alumni Award.
This year’s class began with a retreat in September when class members participated in an equine experiential leadership development workshop at The Collaboration Partners, and then spent the afternoon outlining the community topics they wanted to learn about during the 10-month professional development program.
Throughout the remaining nine months of classes, held one day a month, the members learned about a variety of community focus areas and participated in leadership development education where they engaged in learning and practicing actionable leadership skills they could apply both in their professional and personal lives.
Class focus days included a tour of Ashland County from north to south, board development, education, health and social services, government and safety services, agriculture and environment, business and industry and culture and recreation.
At the retreat, class members selected a focus day they were interested in and then worked in teams to plan the logistics for the class day. For the first time since 2019, all class days were held in person.
One class member share, “Leadership Ashland allowed me to gain new perspective and personal growth. It also empowered me to take new opportunities.”
This year’s graduates represented a diverse group of businesses and nonprofit organizations in Ashland County, and they worked together to accomplish their class project – raising funds for capital improvements at Pathfinder Farm. The project is ongoing and accepting donations at https://bit.ly/3P2AKFR.
Reep presented with Outstanding Alumnus award
In addition to celebrating the achievements of the graduates, each year Leadership Ashland recognizes a past graduate who “exemplifies the essence of leadership in his or her community.” Alumni are nominated based on contributions they make serving on boards and committees, leadership roles they serve in and the impact of their contributions.
The 2022 recipient of the Leadership Ashland Outstanding Alumnus Award is Joe Reep, president of Comfort Control in Ashland. He was chosen ased on his efforts to support the Ashland community through volunteer involvement as a board member with Associated Charities and Ashland Balloon Fest, as well as his work as co-chair with his wife, Brittaney, of the United Way Annual Campaign in 2018.
Reep graduated from the Leadership Ashland program in 2015 and went on to serve as a member of the Leadership Ashland Steering Committee for four years.
“Leadership Ashland has been a great program and real resource for our business to help develop new and upcoming leaders in our organization," Reep said. "After going through the program myself, I knew I wanted all of my department managers to eventually complete the program because of the value and insight it provides. The LA program exposes participants to new approaches and ideas to take back to the workplace, educates them on how to use their own personal strengths to be a better leader and helps stimulate a different type of thinking for those employees that are new or looking to grow in their leadership position.”
Reep went on to share to say “being selected as the Outstanding Alumni is something I am very proud of and came as a big surprise. I’ve been fortunate to help serve on some fantastic organizations and do it not for the recognition, but because I believe in their mission and feel I have something to offer. I’ve mentioned it to classes in the past, but I often ask myself “If not me, then who?” when it comes to serving. Everyone’s situation is different and we’re all busy with work, kids, home and church commitments, but when presented with an opportunity to serve our community if we all asked ourselves ‘if not me, then who?’ I truly believe it can and does make a significant impact.”
Asked why he feels Leadership Ashland is a vital program for the Ashland Community, Reep noted, “Leadership Ashland is literally developing and shaping the current and future leaders throughout the entire County. Being born and raised in Ashland there are so many things you take for granted or don’t really understand how they all work together without having gone through this program. The board internship component of the program is an excellent opportunity for participants to see how things actually get done in the community and is often the nudge participants need to get involved with an organization or cause they are passionate about."
Leadership Ashland began as a program under the umbrella of Ashland University in 1990 and became a program of the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce shortly thereafter.
And the graduating class members are:
The Leadership Ashland class of 2022 members and their sponsors are: Aaron Ross – Ashland University; Abigail Conner – Hedstrom/The Norma Foundation; Amanda Allis – Charles River Labs; Amanda Smith – Housekeeping by Heather; Danielle Baumberger – Spherion Staffing; Diane Bonfiglio, PhD – Ashland University; Earl Bachmann – Comfort Control; Greg Hawks – Charles River Labs; Jenha Graska - The Society, The Link; Josh Garn – Comfort Control; Joshua Hiller – Park National Bank; Keith Ramsdell – Ashland University; Kelly VanDriest - Appleseed Community Mental Health Center; Kristine Miller – Brethren Care Village; Leah Wachtel – North Central State College; Liz McClurg – City of Ashland; Mark Uselton – BCU Electric; Melissa James – Charles River Labs; Regina Theisen – Self sponsor; Ruby Toor, MD – OhioHealth; Sheryl Villegas – Catholic Charities; and Steven Haynes – North Central State College
More than 650 people have graduated from Leadership Ashland.
Applications for the 2022-23 cohort are closed and applications for the 2023-24 cohort will be open in October. To learn more about the program, contact Ginny Telego at the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce office at 419-281-4584 or visit https://ashlandoh.com/programs/leadership-ashland/
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Leadership Ashland graduates 31st class
