Thirty-six individuals from the Greater Topeka area have been selected to participate in the 2016 Leadership Greater Topeka program. Leadership Greater Topeka, a program of the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce since 1984, identifies outstanding potential leaders from various components of the community and teaches participants how to lead in a community setting. There are nearly 1,000 alumni and 70 percent of them still live in and contribute to the Shawnee County community. Class members will attend a retreat and eight day-long sessions between Jan. 14 and April 29 to learn about challenges facing the City of Topeka and Shawnee County and how they, as individuals, can work to influence community issues and problems.
The curriculum for the programs uses a combination of speakers, lessons, activities, small group discussions, community projects and tours. The class works to identify adaptive ways of addressing community issues and situations and how they as individuals can influence decisions about community concerns.
Class members represent a variety of backgrounds and a cross section of the community.
Members of the 2016 class are:
Marcus Clark, Senior Pastor, Love Fellowship Church
Pat Colley, Director of Operational Effectiveness, Data and Reporting, and Risk Management, se2
Danielle Cottrell, Student, Topeka High School
Angela Dailey, Vice President, COO, Brewster Place
Corey Dehn, Senior Project Manager, Schwerdt Design Group, Inc.
Arnold Downing Sr., Vice President of Leasing and Tenant Services, Topeka Housing Authority
Tina Dreitzler Anderson, Electronic Banking Manager, Capitol Federal Savings
Keith Drinkard, Business Development Relationship Manager, INTRUST Bank
Bryan Falk, Architect, Architect One, PA
Scarlett Fisher-Herreman, Technical Services and Collection Development Supervisor, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
Emersen Frazier, Student, Washburn Rural High School
Lindsay Freeman, Community Engagement Coordinator, Advisors Excel
Jason Geier, Senior Assistant District Attorney, District Attorney Office, Third Judicial District
Trey George III, Executive Director, Topeka Housing Authority
Jeremy Graber, Attorney, Foulston Siefkin, LLP
Ty Hysten, Sales Executive/Employee Benefit Consultant, Century Health Solutions
Katie Koupal, Area Manager of External Affairs, AT&T
Abby Lear, Director, HR and Facilities, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
Jessica Lehnherr, Executive Director, CASA of Shawnee County
Anya Leonard, Executive Assistant, Capitol Federal Foundation
Jeff Lolley, Project Manager, Bartlett & West
Murray Moore, Instructor, Topeka High School
Terry Neher, Senior Vice President/Corporate and Commercial Banking, U.S. Bank
Shannon Nichol, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Griffith and Blair
Gabe O'Shea, Customer Service Representative, Community Bank
Morgan Padgett, Managing Director and Shareholder, CBIZ MHM, LLC
Matt Parks, Fleet Mechanic Journeyman, Westar Energy
Frank Qian, Director of Quantitative Research, FHLBank Topeka
Jim Ramos Jr., Marketing Consultant, WIBW-TV
Margo Rangel, Executive Assistant II, City of Topeka
Alex Reilly, Vice President and Agency Principal, MB Piland Advertising & Marketing, LLC
Debra Ricks, Treasurer, CPA, Pioneer Group Inc.
Kim Savage, Executive Director, Corporate Compliance and Internal Audit, Westar Energy
Nick Scott, Autonomous Maintenance Manager/Project Manager, Mars Chocolate North America
Jay Simecka, Major, Shawnee County Sheriff's Office
Mark Stock, Assistant Election Comissioner, Shawnee County Election Office