21st Leadership class graduates

Members of the 21st class of Leadership Porterville can now call themselves alumnus.

A graduation and reception was held Thursday to honor the 2012 Leadership Porterville Class.

Guests gathered at River Island Country Club to congratulate the class on completing the nine-month program which provides training to prepare potential and emerging community leaders to positively impact the greater Porterville area.

The program is designed to educate participants by providing a comprehensive understanding of the issues facing the community, county and state today and into the future. Training in the development of effective leadership skills and related competencies is also involved. The Leadership Porterville program is a project of the Porterville Chamber of Commerce and was initiated by a group of community leaders in 1990.

Noted Chamber President/CEO Donnette Silva Carter, “For over 20 years, Leadership Porterville has played a significant role in preparing local leaders to influence their community and places of employment.  Be it non-profit good works organizations, churches, clubs, or schools, the contributions of LP graduates can be seen through-out the greater Porterville area in projects small and large.  Also, several graduates have gone on to serve as elected officials and on governmental committees.”

In addition to completing the program curriculum, the members of the Class of 2012 involved themselves in community service and fund raising projects as part of their program participation.  This afforded them the opportunity to gain valuable skills in group dynamics, project development and implementation, and organizational management – skills which they can utilize in their future civic involvement, said Silva Carter.

“The over-achieving Class of 2012 actually went beyond the minimum project requirements choosing two fundraisers – a fireworks booth and the inaugural Porterville Mud Run. In the area of community service, they rehabbed an outdoor section of the local women’s shelter by building a shade structure, adding fresh paint where needed, and doing some landscaping. Their final project will be facilitating the construction of a ‘Welcome to Porterville’ sign which they plan to complete by the spring of 2013,” she added.

Members of the graduating class are: Cameron Anderson, Family HealthCare Network; Jessica Buchanan, S.T.O.P. Alarm, Inc.; Rick Carrillo, City of Porterville – Police Department; Krystle Contreras, Family Crisis Center; Rene Espino, United Staffing Associates; Rhoda M. Hunter, Tule River Tribe; Alexander Reed-Krase, Law Offices of Robert Krase; Pierre Mena, Pierre Construction Inc.; David Shimer, Burton School District; and, Melissa Stewart, Porterville Unified School District.

 Leadership Porterville alumnus and former Porterville Mayor Ron Irish provided the keynote presentation challenging the program graduates to get actively engaged in their community upon graduation. He further noted the importance of combining leadership with followership in order to achieve success.

Graduating participants received program plaques and the coveted LP Grad pin, in addition to certificates of recognition provided by the following elected officials; Congressman Devin Nunes, Senator Jean Fuller, Assembly member Connie Conway, the City of Porterville, and the Tulare County Board of Supervisors. Special recognition was further provided to 2012 class members Buchanan and Shimer for their perfect attendance throughout the program.  

The Leadership Porterville program is currently accepting applications for the Class of 2013. Contact the Porterville Chamber of Commerce for more information (784-7502 or www.portervillechamber.org).