Adam Downing, Charlotte Green Graduate from Leadership Northwest

Leadership Northwest Missouri recently held their 2019 graduation ceremony in St. Joseph at the Benton Club.  The celebration began with a welcome by Master of Ceremonies, Robert Jandorf, Board President and 2017 LNWMO graduate from Savannah. Mark Quick, Class of 2015, blessed the group with an invocation prior to dinner.  Jackie Cochenour and Cameron Corbet, members of the Class of 2019, reflected on their class year sharing memorable moments, followed by a video presentation created by Skye Pournazari, Class of 2019.  Dr. Tim Crowley, Leadership Coach from St. Joseph, shared some leadership thoughts.  Wes Moore, Board Finance Member, presented a token of appreciation to our 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, Tara Industries, Hedrick Medical Center, Missouri Western State University and St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. Lunch Sponsors were also recognized: Brookfield Area Growth Partnership and 36/5 Leadership Academy, Community Hospital-Fairfax, Farmers State Bank, Mosaic Life Care, Mosaic Medical Center-Albany, Northwest Missouri Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Signature Psychiatric Hospital and Therapeutic Massage of Maryville. Robert Jandorf recognized retiring board members:  Staci Baker, Meadville; Rodney Hummer, Rosendale; Pat Ryan, Mound City and Crystal Woodring, Fairfax. 

Brenda Williams, General Board Member and Class of 2007 alum, presented the Leadership Northwest Missouri Citizenship Award for 2019 to Granville “Chip” Holman, Gower, MO. Chip is the Mayor of Gower, MO and an American Family Insurance Agent. Chip displays his citizenship by spending countless hours improving his community. He has been instrumental in starting many new events and fundraisers in Gower. Chip supports the youth in the community by attending sporting events, fundraisers, and other activities at the school. He worked to have the school mascot added to the water tower and the football field. Chip served his country as a United States Marine. He is also now an alum of LNWMO, Class of 2019.

Robert Jandorf and Staci Baker, past president, presented each of the 29 graduating class members a plaque for completing the program. Graduates from the 2019 class, IGNITING 19, represented 11 Northwest Missouri Counties:  Andrew County, Stephen Goss; Atchison County, Ashley Mayall; Buchanan County, Cameron Corbet, Megan Deppen, Sarah Meierhoffer, Skye Pournazari, Adam Watson; Carroll County, Rachel Davidson, Devin Frazier, Rachel Hunt; Clinton County, Chip Holman, Pam Holman, Alex Spencer; Gentry County, Jordan Eiberger, Debbie Klommhaus, Steven Meyer, Megan Miller; Grundy County, Derrick Gott, Jenna Johnson; Holt County, Samantha Grist, Gina Lucas; Livingston County, Lisa Geiser, Anthony Ishmael, Robert Smith, Susan Stull; Nodaway County, Jackie Cochenour, Annette Deering; Worth County, Adam Downing, Charlotte Green. Receiving a Certificate of Participation was Jacob Oser, Carroll County.

A special thank you to the Graduation Planning Committee from the Class of 2018: Ashley Bugbee, Brendon Clark, Ashlee Driskell, Laura McFadden, and Heather Olson.

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.  The class began in January and continued through July with monthly sessions in various Northwest Missouri communities.  Classes during the 2019 class year were held at Conception Abbey, in Liberty, Brookfield, Fairfax, Osborn, Maryville and Bethany. 

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.

New LNWMO Board Members joining in July: Rachel Davidson, Carroll County; Chip Holman, Clinton County; Jenna Johnson, Grundy County; and Darla Shipley, Livingston County.

An application for the 2020 class will soon be available on the website: http://www.leadershipnorthwestmissouri.org