The 2021-2022 Leadership Fort Collins class received their diplomas on May 12 at the Rio Grande 2.0. Leadership Fort Collins, a program of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, is designed to educate and motivate leaders who are committed to shaping the future of our community while encouraging inspired and active involvement that contributes to the betterment of the community.
Twenty-nine current and emerging leaders from throughout the Fort Collins area were selected to participate in the 2021-2022 program, which began in September 2021 and concluded on May 12. Participants came together on the second Thursday of the month for a day-long session to learn more about Team Building, Government and Transportation, Economy and the Environment, Education and our Community, Social Capital, State Government, Health and Emergency Service Providers and Social Infrastructure. The graduating class is a diverse mix of professions with representative from education, large and small business, not for profit and government.
In addition to attending nine all day educational sessions, members of the class were also challenged to complete a service-learning project in the community. The 2021-2022 Leadership Fort Collins Class has planned and produced five different class projects benefiting the Fort Collins area.
“The Chamber is thrilled to be able to produce this important program for our area. The individuals graduating this year are second to none and will be impacting our community in very mighty ways. They are leadership personified,” said Ann Hutchison, Chamber President & CEO.
The Leadership Fort Collins graduation included recognition of individual class members and a keynote address by CSU Football Coach Jay Norvell. The graduation event was sponsored by Hot Corner Concepts/Austin’s American Grill and Northern Engineering.
Graduating members of the class included:
Paul Baker, 970 Services
Brent Barstad, Blue Federal Credit Union
Chad Beane, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
Wendy Boddicker, PAM Health
Michelangelo Bustamante, FirstBank
Chris Cooper, Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Brooke Cunningham, Neighbor to Neighbor
Laurel Donahue, Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, Colorado State University
Alex Dutton, Elevations Credit Union
Kevin Flint, Edward Jones
John Freismuth, Flood & Peterson
Jillian Fresa, City of Fort Collins
Penny Gill-Stuart, CCD INNOVATION
Matt Hoppal, MidFirst Bank
Jeff Jarchow, Stratus Marketing
Jill Marx, City of Fort Collins
Annalise Mecham, Boys & Girls Club of Larimer County
Joe Morrongiello, Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
Amber Morse,
Pat O’Farrell, Brown & Brown Insurance
Kate Penning, Clark & Enersen
Bill Renz, Ditesco, LLC
Marissa Riopelle, First Western Trust
Adam Ritchey, JE Dunn Construction
Kelly Stine, The Armstrong Hotel
Lisa Talley, UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies
Brenda Trejos, Medicare Guide/ Leadership Trainer & Coach
Analia A. Weber, La Familia Family Center
Brendan Wise, UCHealth
The program was produced by the Fort Collins Area Chamber with assistance from a steering committee and The Place Setting Company:
Emily Birdsall, Jolly Events
Heather Buoniconti, Food Bank for Larimer County
Jen Cooper, SummitStone Health Partners
Mark Culloton, UCHealth
Lauren Dewey, Colorado State University
Jess Dyrdahl, Colorado State University
Maryann Fillingim, City of Fort Collins
Jerick Flores, Colorado State University
Jill Foster, The Place Setting Company
Gretchen Gramling, Visual Health Solutions
Charles Grant, First National Bank
Huston Hoffman, RPT Realty
Mara Johnson, Habitat for Humanity
Tracy Katz, First Western Trust
Carley McAbee, Indigo Grantsmithing
Jennifer McLain, Alpha Center
Amanda Miller, The Place Setting Company
Katie Nixon, UCHealth
Emily Peddicord, Gleeds
Ali Raza, CSU
Colan Scheidenhelm, Schure Consulting
Lauren Smiley, Coloscapes Concrete
Nick Smiley, City of Fort Collins
Gretchen Stanford, City of Fort Collins
Zachary Sumner, Cherry Creek Mortgage
Abe Theiss, City of Greeley
Brad Ward, Connexion
Meghan Willis, UCHealth
Applications for the 2022-2023 Leadership Fort Collins program will be available in late-June. Anyone interested in learning more about the program or applying should contact Ann Hutchison at (970) 482-3746 or [email protected].