Leadership Moscow Graduation 2019

Sixteen students graduated from the Leadership Moscow program Thursday, May 10 at the Best Western Plus University Inn.

The mission of Leadership Moscow is to cultivate leaders in Moscow and Latah County by offering a concentrated, hands-on learning experience to enhance leadership skills while providing information related to the community. Leadership Moscow works to develop advocates for Moscow and its surrounding rural communities who will serve as future leaders.

Students were nominated by their business to participate in Leadership Moscow for the nine month course that began September 2018. The course ranged from learning about economic development, the city, county and state to participating in media training and a final project with the theme, “an issue in Moscow and my proposed solution.”

“This is the third year of the revived Leadership Moscow program and we’re proud to now have 37 alumni. Each year, the programming is refined by the steering committee based on the feedback from the students and the caliber of presenters that would like to engage with the class. The future of businesses, the university, government organizations, and our combined community, relies on strong leadership. The Leadership Moscow program is providing the foundation for this leadership development and the result is an incredible network of professionals ready to take leadership roles in their professions and in our community,” said Kim O’Neill, Moscow Chamber of Commerce Board Member and Leadership Moscow Steering Committee.

Students graduated include: Amanda Argona, City of Moscow Community Events Manager; Tim Besst, Latah County Sheriffs Office Chief Deputy; Tyler Drees, University of Idaho Athletic Department Manager of Sales and Service; Samantha Dunlap, University of Idaho Association Director of Development; Kendra Ewing, Moscow Chamber of Commerce Events and Communications Coordinator; Ellen Grundin Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Executive Assistant – Office of the President; Brittany Harrington University of Idaho – CNR Administrative, Development, and Events Coordinator; Alyssa Hartford, Latah County Assessor’s Office Senior Residential Appraiser; Megan Landers, Account Ability Owner/CPA; Cameron Lundy, Colonial Life Insurance Representative; Abigail McLauchlin, University of Idaho Administrative Assistant – VSF; Daniel Noble, University of Idaho Senior Financial and Employment Services Tech; Rebecca Sarmiento, Troy Insurance Agency, Inc. Commercial Lines Producer; David Schott, City of Moscow Assistant Parks and Recreation Director; Mia Vowels, City of Moscow City Attorney; April Young, Palouse Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Coordinator.
At the graduation ceremony, five individuals were also awarded the Friends of Leadership Moscow Award for their service to and support of the program. These individuals were Gary Riedner, City of Moscow; Mike O’Brien, Melanie Zimmer and Shelby Saylors, Best Western Plus University Inn and Dr. Ed Schweitzer, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.

Leadership Moscow is facilitated by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and a steering committee that includes Jenny Ford, Moscow Chamber of Commerce Executive Director; Jim Miller, University of Idaho Director of Development and Cap Projects in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Kim O’Neill, University of Idaho Associate Vice President for Development; Brandon Allen, Summit Funding Inc.
The steering committee is currently accepting applications for the 2019-2020 Leadership Moscow class. They can be found by visiting the Moscow Chamber of Commerce website moscowchamber.com.
The Moscow Chamber of Commerce's mission is to strengthen, promote, and lead the business and economic community and support the free enterprise system while preserving and enhancing the quality of life.