Leadership group attends nonprofit fair

This year’s leadership class prepares for graduation.

Leadership Clark County participants attended a nonprofit fair Thursday, spending time with about 45 local nonprofits to learn more about different organizations and help them ahead of graduation from the program.

The class includes individuals from a variety of fields, including education, health care, small businesses and county and city government, executive director Leigh Anne Lawrence said. After graduation, members from the class will go on to serve on boards and volunteer with various nonprofits, many of whom were at the nonprofit fair.

The 2023-2024 class of 44 people will celebrate graduation April 25 at the

Marriott at 5:30 p.m., Lawrence said. The group will hear from Horton Hobbs, Greater Springfield Partnership vice president of economic

development. The event is open to the public but tickets are required, which can be purchased at https://bit.ly/lccgrad24.

Leadership Clark County is accepting applications for the 2024-2025 class now through June 30 at https:// bit.ly/clarkapp25. Applicants

must live or work in Clark County. The class is typically made up of 40-42 people.

“It helps our participants with personal and professional growth, and they gain access to parts of the community that they might now have been aware of,” Lawrence said. “We have a lot of people who lived in Clark County their whole lives, and we expose them to things that they had no idea are going on.”

Instead of its annual recruitment reception, the group is holding a Community Connection Breakfast June 6 to introduce prospective participants to the program, Lawrence said.

These 44 people will graduate from the class:

Vaidehe Agwan Mindy Allender Tyler Baughman Anita Biles

Lori Boegershausen Michelle Boomgaard Tami Carter

Michael Cooper

Levi Duncan

Stephanie Dunlap Shannon Flood

John Fritz

Jessica Graham

Karen Graves

James Gray

Kari Griffith

Haley Griffith-baughman Jason Harral

Matthew Jasko

Michael Lagano

Robert Lavoie

Jeremy Leist

Jodi Lucas

Cathy Maus

Jennifer Mcintire Lindsay Mckenna

Stone Nickerson

Bobby Parrett

Damiana Reyes Christopher Rhoden Anna Jean Sauter

Briana Smith

Heidi Thompson

Marcus Thompson Sr. Brenda Trinkle

Kara Van Zant

Zach Vaughn

Jason Via

Brooke Wagner

Tamara Wallace Elizabeth Wilcoxon Dustin Wooten

Natalie Payton

Heidi Shanor

BILL LACKEY / STAFF Grover Butler, from St. John’s Lutheran Church, talks to Jodi Lucas, from Leadership Clark County, about some of the services they offer during the Leadership Clark County Non-profit Fair at the Hollenbeck Bayley Conference Center on Thursday. About 45 local nonprofits participated.