Thirty-five current and emerging leaders were recently selected to participate in the 2017-2018 Leadership Fort Collins program. The group is a diverse mix of professions with representative from education, large and small business, not for profit and city and state office.
Leadership Fort Collins, a program of the Fort Collins Area Chamber, educates and motivates leaders who are committed to shaping the future of our community while encouraging inspired and active involvement that contributes to community betterment.
Ann Hutchison, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce executive vice president, announced the class on August 31. “The selection committee had a tremendous task when they were asked to select this year’s class. We had 60 fantastic applications for the program and as a result, have an outstanding class,” she said.
The 2017-2018 class members are:
Michael Allison, Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
Carin Avila, Rocky Mountain Raptor Program
Mary Baird, United Way of Larimer County
Paul Birdsall, Wells Fargo (Commercial Banking)
Jo Cech, City of Fort Collins
Cody Charles, Hot Corner Concepts (Big Al’s)
Ryann DeGraff, UCHealth
Dawn Eger, Eger CPA
Jerick Flores, Colorado State University Alumni Association
Gretchen Gramling, Visual Health Solutions
Shauna Gray, Chipper’s Lanes Entertainment
Nelson Greenlee, Green Ride CO
Diane Jackson, UCHealth
Marketa Jancar, Bohemian Foundation
Audrey Johnson, Savory Spice Shop
Tracy Katz, First National Bank
Seth Kelley, BASE Camp
Nancy Kepner, Crafted Leadership
Brian Kiel, Total Facility Care
Julianna Kobs, 33Vincent
Vanessa Lewis, Partners Mentoring Youth
Ben Lucas, Rams Sports Properties
Carley McAbee, Indigo–Grantsmithing & Consulting
Quinha McBride, Colorado State University, Corporate Relations
Caroline Mitchell, City of Fort Collins
Huston Morse, Brinkman
Jason Oleskevich, Academy Mortgage
Ali Raza, Colorado State University
Cheryl Schroeder, Saunders Heath
Nick Smiley, City of Fort Collins
Ben Smith, Premier Mortgage Group
Courtney Stewart, Platte River Power Authority
Geri Tamborelli, UCHealth, Poudre Valley Hospital
Rebecca Toll, Prevention Research Center, CSU
Bill Wells, Brinkman
The Leadership Fort Collins program will begin on September 14 with a day long experience at the CSU Mountain Campus and includes eight program sessions that run from October 2017 to May 2018.
Sessions for the 2017-2018 program are planned by the Leadership Fort Collins Steering Committee, which is made up of graduates from previous leadership programs. Committee members include:
Stephanie Ashley, Brinkman
Emily Birdsall, Jolly Events
Heather Buoniconti, Food Bank for Larimer County
Jen Cooper Miller, SummitStone
Mark Culloton, Austin’s American Grill
Jess Dyrdahl, CSU
Maryann Fillingim, UCHealth
Jill Foster, Belfor Property Restoration
Ann Hutchison, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
Nalo Johnson, City of Fort Collins
Diane Jones
Amy Kolczak, University of Colorado Health
Heather Matz, The Group
Jennifer McLain, Alpha Center
Emily Peddicord, Mortenson
Teresa Sedlak, Office of the Alternative Defense Counsel
Lauren Smiley, Saunders Heath
Zach Sumner, BWCS
Abe Theiss, Brinkman Construction
Brad Ward, City of Fort Collins
Meghan Willis, UCHealth