Leadership Northwest Missouri recently held a graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020.
Leadership Northwest Missouri (LNWMO) recently held their 2020 graduation ceremony in Gower at Backwoods Venue 222. The celebration began with a welcome by Master of Ceremonies, Ashlee Driskell, past board president and 2018 LNWMO alum. Chip Holman, 2019 LNWMO alum, blessed the group with an invocation prior to dinner. Kaylee Gibson, Julie Robertson and Tim Wymes, members of the Class of 2020, reflected on their class year sharing memorable moments, followed by a video presentation created by Cindy Wells, Class of 2020. Rachel Davidson, board president and 2019 LNWMO alum, presented a token of appreciation to program sponsors: Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri, BTC Bank, Farmers State Bank, Mosaic Life Care, Nodaway Valley Bank, Northwest Health Services, Northwest Missouri State University, Union State Bank, Carroll County Memorial Hospital, Gower Area Chamber of Commerce, Hedrick Medical Center, and St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. Lunch sponsors were also recognized: Community Hospital-Fairfax, Missouri Star Quilt Company, Mosaic Medical Center-Albany, and Mosaic Medical Center-Maryville. Ashlee Driskell recognized retiring board members: Robert Jandorf, Savannah; Wes Moore, St. Joseph; Jackie Soptic, Trenton and Stephanie Williams, Cameron.
Brenda Williams, general board member and Class of 2007 alum, presented the Leadership Northwest Missouri Citizenship Award for 2020 to Anna Barlow, Carrollton, Missouri. Anna, Carroll County Chamber director, willingly led the charge of area businesses and leaders through one of the most troubling times in recent history, COVID-19. Her leadership was put to the test, but she didn’t fall short of the victory when the community was able to see a light at the end of the tunnel by not stalling out or declining. From serving on various boards to donating time to her church, YMCA, local hospital and city park, Anna has a vision for Carrollton. Her vision is to make everyone she meets a better person, every business in the community successful and to surround herself with like-minded individuals. Anna is also an alum of LNWMO, Class of 2020.
Ashlee Driskell and Rachel Davidson presented each of the 21 graduating class members a plaque for completing the program. Graduates from the 2020 class, Co-VISION-20, represented the following Northwest Missouri counties-Andrew County: Ashlee Boner; Atchison County: Dave Fast, Nikki Graves, and Katrina Lock; Buchanan County: Kaylee Gibson, Rob Honan, and Courtney Jimenez; Carroll County: Anna Barlow; Clinton County: Tim Wymes; Gentry County: Jenny Huard and Mackenzie Manring; Grundy County: Megan Taul; Harrison County: Whitney Esry; Holt County: Judy Hood and Randy Mendenhall; Livingston County: Ashley Putnam; Mercer County: Maria Peace; Nodaway County: Debbie Bennett, Julie Robertson, Cindy Wells, Br. David Wilding. Receiving a certificate of participation were Julie Burns, Clinton County; Rick Daly, Clay County; and Teresa Mier, Buchanan County.
Leadership Northwest Missouri is a leadership development program designed to bring together participants from throughout a 19-county region to build, strengthen and inspire leaders through training and networking experiences. This class began in January and continued through November with monthly sessions in various Northwest Missouri communities. Classes during the 2020 class year were held at Conception Abbey, in Hamilton, Maryville, Albany, Rock Port and via several Zoom sessions. Each session contained instruction on various leadership skills, in-depth examination of various issues facing the region and hands-on exercises. In addition to entrepreneurship, other regional issues that were addressed included healthcare, agriculture, regional awareness and team empowerment.
LNWMO board members joining in December were: Deborah Borchers, Kaylee Gibson, and Courtney Jimenez, St. Joseph; Kari Holdsworth, Agency; and Randy Mendenhall, Oregon.
