Fall 2012
Vol 4, Issue 4


Advancing Leadership logo 
 Envision eNews

Left:  State Senator Tracey Eide serves as a Celebrity Waiter at AL's Evening with The Stars dinner and auction on Oct. 6th.
Greetings!
Fall is a flurry of activity for all of us at Advancing Leadership.  Our ALY 2013 class began meeting in August, and the adults were right on their heels, kicking off their program year in September.  This year we have also begun a brand new program for our youth grads: ALY 2.0.

On Oct. 6th, over 200 of the AL and ALY community gathered together for our 2nd fundraising dinner and auction, Evening with the Stars.  What a fun and festive evening!

Next on the calendar is project selection for both our adult and youth classes. There are some amazing ideas on the table.  Past projects have impacted thousands of people all over Federal Way.

If your life has been touched by Advancing Leadership, won't you tell us about it?
 Change happens one step at a time, and we want to support your leadership journey. 

Yours in service,
  

Teri Hickel

Executive Director 
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2012 Evening with the Stars Reflects a Shared Vision

AL eve with starsFun, friends, inspiration and some good laughs - this year's fundraising dinner and auction was all of this and more.  Over 200 AL and ALY alumni, participants and friends attended our 2012 Evening with the Stars.

 

Major Sponsor Umpqua Bank covered the cost of attendance for Advancing Leadership Youth, and Supporting Sponsor Representative Katrina Asay was also one of 22 'Celebrity Waiters'.  A full kitchen crew from Grace Church donated and prepared a fantastic spaghetti dinner, and stellar ALY alumni volunteers Nimo Azeez - ALY '11, William Barcelona - ALY '12, Kieran Bronson-Doherty - ALY '08 and Zaira Rojas - ALY '12, as well as our wonderful accounting support person Sharrie Shumway, kept things running smoothly from start to finish.

 

Event highlights included alumni testimonials from Lydia Assefa-Dawson - AL '03, her son Christian Dawson - ALY '08, Lawrence Garrett - AL '10 and Zaira Rojas - ALY '12 and current ALY 2.0 participant.  The first ever Bob Wroblewski Servant Leadership Alumni Award was also presented (see more info below).

 

Thanks to the shared vision of the AL Alumni Committee, sponsors, event volunteers, and our wonderful guests, over $10,000 was raised to support our three programs: AL adult, ALY youth and ALY 2.0, as well as the Mike McIntosh Memorial Scholarship Fund.  We appreciate everyone who helped make Evening with the Stars such a memorable event.

 

If you were unable to attend Evening with the Stars, but want to support our programs, Click Here! Individual donors are crucial to our outreach to emerging adult and youth leaders.

Modeling The Way: New Award Recognizes Alumni Leaders

During the 2011-12 program year, our Board of Directors assigned the AL Alumni Committee the task of creating a special leadership award to recognize graduates of our program who are using their training to impact Federal Way.  The result was the Bob Wroblewski Servant Leadership Alumni Award.  The award's namesake was one of our program's founders and our longest serving board member.
Bob Wroblewski presents award to Rose Ehl - AL '03
AL alumni and board members were invited to submit nominations in September.  The AL Alumni Committee reviewed all submissions and chose Rose Ehl - AL '03 as the 2012 BWSLA Award Winner!  Rose has been involved in Federal Way for over 15 years, serving on boards and committees and helping people connect to resources. As described in her nomination form,  "Rose was a connector out in the community, if you wanted something done and didn't know who to call, Rose would be the go-to gal."
 
She is especially known for creating the Federal Way Farmer's Market.  Originally considered as a potential team project for the AL '03 class, Rose believed the whole community would benefit from such a venture.  Now going strong for eight years, the market runs spring - fall, attracts dozens of vendors, and is expanding to an indoor venue for winter months.  Congratulations, Rose and thank you for your commitment to building a better community.
 
There were eight other nominees for our first BWSLA Award, all equally inspiring:
 
AL 12 Cindy Ducich Nominee Cindy Ducich - AL '10: Cindy has been an involved community member for years, and has used her AL training to polish her natural abilities and take her leadership to the next level.  She is an active volunteer with many local organizations, including the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, and received the Federal Way Rotary's 2012 Service Above Self Award.  From her nomination form: "Her volunteerism is motivating and inspires others to volunteer in the community. She is responsible, faithful, and committed the improvement of her city. She asks for nothing in return."
 
  Gaylen FloyNominee Gaylen Floy - AL '08: A graphic designer who's career ended when she lost her vision, Gaylen used this major life change as inspiration for serving others.  Recommended to AL by Mayor Skip Priest, she has gone on to teach adaptive computer skills to vision-impaired adults and youth, and in 2010, Gov. Gregoire appointed her to the State Rehabilitation Council, partnering with the State Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) to help people with disabilities find and retain jobs.  From her nomination form: "When I think of a servant leader, I think of a person like Gaylen who embraces a challenge and paves the way for others who aren't able to help themselves...she encourages others that vision loss does not mean sitting on the sidelines."
Nominee Lawrence Garrett - AL '10: In the relatively short time since his graduation from AL, Lawrence has given back more volunteer hours than those spent as a participant.  He has been a program speaker, curriculum developer and currently serves on our board of directors.  He has recruited new participants, brought in community resources and most recently developed and is facilitating our newest program: ALY 2.0.  From his nomination form: "Lawrence is a servant leader. He lives his life with a set of values that are inspiring especially to youth. He believes that arming youth with information that's critical to their success is key to their future and as community leaders." 

AL 12 Pete GonzalesNominee Pete Gonzales - AL '08: Pete has taken a passion for kids and education and poured himself into leading at Federal Way Communities in Schools. He has mentored many young men in our public schools, and was the CIS-FW's first Mentor of the Year.  He is currently the organization's board president.  From his nomination form: " Pete exhibits the traits that AL strives to cultivate in community leaders. He is passionately involved as an advocate for a population that does not have a strong voice of their own."
 
AL 12 Jon McIntosh Nominee Jon McIntosh - AL '99: One of the very first AL graduates, Jon has stayed involved as a volunteer and currently serves as our board's president; he also serves as a volunteer speaker and facilitator for our programs.  In the community, Jon serves as an individual and a pastor to partner with schools, government, non-profits and other churches to address the needs of kids and families in poverty.  From his nomination form: "John is literally changing the world one person at a time. He is passionate in this pursuit in a quiet and humble way. He inspires me to do more. He is a leader's leader."
 
  AL 12 Robyn RichinsNominee Robyn Richins - AL '10: Since completing the AL program, Robyn has served on the City of Federal Way's Human Services Commission, and is currently Vice-Chair. From her nomination form: "Robyn is very attuned to the needs of women and single parent families, and she understands the needs of the disenfranchised in the community. Her work in all arenas is impacting the lives of many in our community."
 
AL 12 Lori Santamaria Nominee Lori Santamaria - AL '10: Lori has volunteered for dozens of local causes, often doing essential work behind-the-scenes.  A recent project was acting as Federal Way's representative for the Olympic Dive Trials.  Her leadership impressed the Chamber of Commerce, who invited her to join the board.  From her nomination form: "Lori often volunteers by offering food/bar services for non-profit fundraisers. She's SO good that everyone calls on her and is relieved of a cumbersome but important duty of ensuring guests are excellently served while enjoying their evening. She does dozens a year, voluntarily." 
 
AL 12 Suzanne Smith Nominee Suzanne Smith - AL '05: Since graduating from AL, Suzanne has served as a school board director for Federal Way Public Schools, and as a Diversity Commissioner for the City of Federal Way.  She is currently a board member for Valley Cities Counseling & Consulting, and a Arts Commissioner for the City of Kent.  From her nomination form: "She puts her heart, soul & amazing mind into every community organization she supports, with no expectation of personal recognition...Suzanne is an amazing advocate for people in her community who don't always understand how decisions get made or how to get their voices heard."
 
Congratulations to all of these alumni, and thank you for using your leadership skills to serve our community.

 

Inspiring a Shared Vision: Welcome AL's New Board Directors
Several new directors have joined the Advancing Leadership Board as of July 2012:
Chris Carrel, Communications Director, City of Federal Way; Robin Corak - AL '04, CEO, Multi-Service Center; Jason Prenovost - AL '09, Director of Communications & Marketing, Highline Community College; Bob Wroblewski - AL Founder, Community Leader.  Please join us in welcoming these outstanding community leaders to our board.

Challenging The Process: Federal Way Rotary Welcomes AL '13 to Club

When The Federal Way Rotary Club notified us that they wanted to be a Silver Sponsor, they explained that they recognized it as a two-way partnership opportunity.  
FW Rotarians welcome AL '13
FW Rotarians welcome AL '13
In addition to sending Rotarian Brian Ailinger through Advancing Leadership this year, they have also extended a special invitation to all of our AL 2013 participants. While enrolled in our program, every AL '13 class member will become an honorary Rotarian!  This benefit will allow them to attend Rotary meetings and events, receive news and bulletins, and get to know Rotary from the inside.  Our hope is that AL men and women will continue to participate in Rotary after they graduate. Thanks to Don Heinkel and the board of Federal Way Rotary for extending this outstanding opportunity to our participants!
Meet AL 2013
Our Advancing Leadership 2013 adult class is busy learning about our community, each other and their individual leadership styles.
Meet AL '13: Brian Ailinger, Regina Aldridge, Ryan Beaver, Trisha Bennett, Jeanette Brizendine, Karen Brugato, Lindsey Butcher, Ryan Connors, Tom de Oro, Jennifer Dunn, Margery Godfrey, Scott Haines, Don Hall, Bubba Jennings, Dan Jones, Liberty Knerr, Andrew Nix, Rashad Norris, Sharon Norton, Heather Omega, Matt Ramirez, Christina Reagle, Caitlyn Remington, Tricia Schug, Connie Shupp, Lindsey Tiroux, Caroline Vander Ark, Michelle Vanderbilt, Jenny Vasquez, Aaron Weeks.
Meet ALY 2013
The Advancing Leadership Youth Class of 2013 is already busy learning leadership skills and exploring the city.
Welcome ALY '13: Jawwad Ali, Adam Anthony, Shawntel Bali, Danielle Carnahan, Jasmine Dacones, Joshua Dawson, Eunice Decena, Dylan Detray, Danalyn Fernandez, Amy Hsiah, Christina Huber, David Jang, Kendall Karmell, Philip Kim, Julia Kim, Chris Kim, Matthew Maloney, Jeremy McMahon, Augustino Nguyen, Edward Park, Eloisa Serrano, Douglas Smith, Lindsey Sorenson, Jenessa Ho, Amani Thomas, Taylor Verzosa, Courtney Walker, Sonya Wani, Kaya Warrior, Madison Weinman, Devan Williams, Brandon Zimmerman, Jaden Zwick.

AL & ALY Alums in the News

Some of these announcements have more details that you can read if you join the AL/ALY Linkedin Group, an exclusive benefit for participants, alums and current/former board members!

It's a clean sweep:  ALY '12 Alumni have stepped into Associated Student Body (ASB) government roles at all four comprehensive high schools in Federal Way! The following youth alums are busy serving their schools as student officers: Decatur - Jason Kim, ASB President, Jordan Crahan, Senior Class President, Debra Chong, Senior Class Vice President, Cristal Villareal Garcia, Latino Club President; Federal Way High School - Caleb Dawson, ASB President; Thomas Jefferson High School - Edward Choi, ASB President; Todd Beamer High School - William Barcelona, ASB President, Clayton Regehr, ASB Vice President.

Keven Dunn, AL '07was selected to join the the new City of Federal Way Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Loan Advisory Committee. As part of the committee, Keven will make recommendations for city loans and grants to businesses and individuals who can show a plan to grow and develop jobs and facilities in Federal Way.
 
Janelle Erickson-Bogart, AL '08was recently promoted to Director of Clinical Cardiology Services at Franciscan Medical Group.
 
Amy Johnson, AL '08, is now on the faculty with Great Conversations, an organization sponsored by Seattle Children's Hospital. She teaches classes on puberty designed for parents and children to attend together, and was instrumental in bringing the program to Federal Way.
 
Kelly Maloney, AL '08, is now at  Orion Industries as Director of Marketing. She is also getting her Master's in Communications and Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. 
 
Jamey Sing, AL '05, is the Federal Way Symphony's new Board President.  Jamey also donated symphony tickets to our recent Evening with the Stars silent auction.
 
Eric Stavney, AL '07, is now working as an instructional designer at ADP/Cobalt, a firm that does digital advertising and websites for car dealers. He writes lessons for trainers, who in turn teach newly hired employees to do tech support for the dealers. 
 
Alice Stevenson, AL '12, is offering a great new service at her business, Geeks@Site: recycling computers. For every computer you bring in for recycling, you will receive 15 minutes of free servicing from the 'Geeks'. They can also pick it up for you.
 
Tara Sorenson, AL '03is working on a book about the journey through Alzheimer's with her mother. She is accepting stories from those who wish to pay tribute to a loved one or friend, who has travelled the same path. The individuals who have already contributed their stories, have remarked how cleansing the exercise has been for them. Contact Tara at [email protected].
Advancing Leadership is proud of our corporate partners:
  
     FWPS logo horiz               Weyerhaueser logo

                                   St. Francis Hospital              Multi-Service Center                
     Korum for Kids logo
        FW Rotary