ASHLAND – The Leadership Ashland program graduated its 31st class in a program on June 23.
The event was held at Paradise Found Event Center, where 21 community leaders were recognized for completion of the program. One Leadership Ashland Alumnus was recognized with the Outstanding Alumni Award. Local business BCU Electric sponsored the event.
This year’s class began with a retreat in September 2020 where the 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 class members learned about a variety of community focus areas and participated in ongoing leadership development education. They also engaged in learning and practicing actionable leadership skills that 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 their class day. For the first time since 2019, all class days were held in person.
One class member shared “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 non-profit organizations in Ashland County and they all worked together to accomplish their class project – raising funds for capital improvements at Pathfinder Farms, a local non-profit serving youth in Ashland County.
This project is still ongoing and accepting donations here: https://bit.ly/3P2AKFR
In addition to celebrating the achievements of the graduates, each year Leadership Ashland recognizes a past graduate of the program 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. Reep was chosen for the award based on his tireless efforts to support the Ashland community through his 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 because of his belief in the importance of the program.
“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 “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. Since its inception, the mission of the program has been to identify existing and emerging leaders, acquaint participants with community needs and issues, and broaden participants’ understanding of the political, economic, business and social environments of Ashland County.
The ultimate goal of the program is to prepare participants to take a more active leadership role within the community as well as in their sponsoring organizations.
The Leadership Ashland class of 2022 members and their sponsors include:
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
Steven Haynes – North Central State College
Over 650 people have graduated from Leadership Ashland and have gone on to have a positive impact in their organizations and the community. Because they believe the Leadership Ashland program is a critical component in ensuring Ashland County has extraordinary leaders long into the future, the Ashland County Community Foundation has been a Sustaining Sponsor of Leadership Ashland since 2015.
Applications for the 2022-23 cohort are closed and applications for the 2023-24 cohort will be open in October 2022. 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/
