Eighth class for Leadership San Juan Islands graduates…

Pictured Rear: Tara Dalton, Maia Yip, Morgan Meadows, Gretchen Staehlin, Susan Williamson, Bill Severson, Mikah Smith, Meredith Griffith, Marjorie Harrison. Front: Co-Coordinator Liz Illg, Chelo Carlton, Foster Hildreth , Melanie Rollins, Gary Franklin, Mike Close, Co- Coordinator Jim Hooper..

Here’s the word on this year’s class, by Liz Illg:

Leadership San Juan Islands Class VIII Graduates June 1     

Leadership San Juan Islands Class VIII will hold its graduation ceremony Friday, June 1, 11:30-1:30 p.m. at the San Juan Island Grange in Friday Harbor.  The fourteen islanders are: Mikah Smith, Tara Dalton, and Maia Yip from Lopez Island; Foster Hildreth, Meredith Griffith, and Morgan Meadows from Orcas; Bill Severson, Gretchen Staehlin, Gary Franklin, Marjie Harrison, Chelo Carlton, Susan Williamson, Melanie Rollins, and Mike Close from San Juan Island.  Keynote speaker will be Jill Blankenship, Philanthropist and CEO of Frontline Call Center.   LSJI alumni and the public are invited to attend.

Businesses and agencies across the county play part in the success of the program. This year the class appreciated significant donations by Smuggler’s Villa and Heartwood House on Orcas, Harrison House on San Juan Island and Lopez Islander Bay Resort. Each participant was also sponsored in part or wholly by their employer or a local nonprofit. This year we thank the following sponsors: Whidbey Island Bank, San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, Lopez Island Prevention Coalition, the San Juan Islands Economic Development Council, San Juan Island Library, San Juan County Health and Community Services Department, San Juan Island Prevention Coalition, Orcas Power and Light Company (OPALCO), San Juan Island Prevention Coalition, and several anonymous donors.

The Curriculum Committee designs and implements the program and supports the Program Coordinator position, this year shared by Liz Illg and Jim Hooper. The members of the committee for 2012 were Gretchen Krampf, Cynthia Stark-Wickman, Kathleen Foley, Margaret Payne, Steve Hushebeck, Candace Jaegel, and Katie Loring.

Leadership San Juan Islands is a county-wide program which fosters leadership skills such as facilitation, collaborative problem solving, and public speaking as well as the analysis of local systems related to governance, economics, social services, history and culture, education and the environment. Participants are selected in the fall and spend five months together, January through May, with a staff of eight and many regional leaders. For more information see: http://www.leadershipsanjuanislands.org/.

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