The final Leadership Knox County class was held in Verdigre on Thursday, Dec. 3. Leadership Knox County is personal enrichment course, focusing on three key areas: leadership skill building, networking and increasing community knowledge. Each session has taken the class to six communities in the county. The final class held in Verdigre was focused on county/local government and philanthropy. The day began with an informative overview of county government from the Knox County Clerk, Joann Fischer. Delores Ruzicka followed with a summary on her role as a Village of Verdigre Council Member. Greta Leach and Anders Olson with the Nebraska Community Foundation were present to facilitate discussion and lead an Asset Based Mapping Activity. Local Knox County Foundation members were present to engage in a discussion on what their community foundation currently does for their community. The response from each foundation was phenomenal, and new ideas were generated for each foundation to take back to their own communities. Following the local foundation discussion, a County Asset Based Mapping Exercise was performed. This exercise allowed the group to collectively showcase the assets that each community offers. When looking at the asset based map and the wide array of “assets” each community possesses, Knox County is truly a wonderful place to call home. The first class/steering committee for Leadership Knox County is made up of representatives from the following communities: Carolyn Hall, Wausa Jennifer Poppen-Neukirch, Creighton Tyler Fuchtman, Creighton Abigail Frank, Creighton Amy Eisenhauer, Bloomfield Colette Panning, Bloomfield Kelsy Jelinek, Verdigre Valorie Zach, Niobrara Charlie Hendrix, Crofton Megan Hanefeldt, Center For more information about the course or to be a member in the 2016 course, contact Carolyn Hall at 402-586-2449 or Megan Hanefeldt - Knox County Economic Development: knoxcodevelopment@gpcom.net or 402-288-5619. |