We are hot and proud of it ! 

The weather continues to break records and so is Scottsdale Leadership!  We are proud to announce Class 39 has 49 fantastic class members – the largest class ever!   I can already hear a few classes preparing to let me know their class boasted that honor…so for the record, Class 31 had 48 members and Class 33 had 47 members.

Our second Overnight Class Retreat was a great success!  Special thanks to our Chief Rock Star and Facilitator, Kristi Staab, for inspiring Class 39 and starting their Scottsdale Leadership journey off with a bang!   Our ten Retreat Advisors provided warmth, guidance, and a BIG welcome to our Scottsdale Leadership family.  Thank you to our many volunteers and sponsors! You ALL made a BIG difference!  As one class member shared, “OMG!!! A week later and I am STILL on a high from those two days. Kristi did a fabulous job of preparing us for the role we are taking on and the power we have inside ourselves. I loved getting to know each other with no outside distractions. Just us. Just our purpose for being there.”

Our Welcome Reception completed the retreat and was open to all alumni, family, and the community.  We broke another record with an all-time high attendance record!

Our first Class Day, Welcome Day, was Friday, September 13th.  Some might be superstitious but no worries.  It was an electric day with relationships already forming and of course, the traditional 90-second commercials!   The day included words of wisdom from Co-Founder Gary Shapiro.  We thank Merle Riepe, President-Elect and President of SOLVE Talent, for sharing the Emergenetic profile assessments with each class member and the class as a whole as they discover their Conceptional, Social, Structural, and Analytical personalities. 

There is still room for you to join us at our first Networking event on Thursday, September 19th.  All alumni and class members are invited to hear from Michele Trent, Toastmasters specialist, and speed date your way into new relationships and a lot of fun!

NEW this year is our 1-day retreat called the Values Gap Workshop on October 18th.  This is the most timely, relevant, powerful, and game-changing training event you will participate in this year. Led by Kristi Staab, Retreat Facilitator, “It is imperative for leaders to shift how they think, act, and behave to provide the leadership necessary to create unity, trust, and mutual respect in our businesses, communities, and families…even when we have significant differences in our beliefs.” We are offering $100 off the cost for all Active Alumni Donors; the workshop fee includes materials, lunch, and snacks.  There is still time to activate your alumni dues.

Do you know a worthy candidate to nominate for our Drinkwater, Hodges, or Jenkins Awards?  The time is NOW. The deadline for all applications is September 18th.  NEW this year is the Frances Young Trailblazer Award.  The Drinkwater Award is for non-alumni community leaders. The Hodges Award is for an alumni community leader, and the Jenkins Youth Leadership Award is for a Junior or Senior high school student that lives in Scottsdale.  The Frances Young Award is for those emerging leaders that are blazing the trails and making an impact in Scottsdale who perhaps do not yet have the longevity of our other award recipients.

Save the date for our 24th Annual Spirit of Community Awards Luncheon on December 13th where we will honor all award winners and enjoy the company of our prestigious alumni and community leaders.

I’m ready to break a few more records this year and with your participation and support, I am confident we will!