Blackduck, Kelliher, Northome area residents complete Blandin Community Leadership Program retreat

Grand Rapids, Minn. (April 23, 2019) — Twenty-three residents of the Blackduck, Kelliher and Northome areas returned April 12 from a five-day leadership retreat, the first segment of an intense eight-day training provided by the Blandin Community Leadership Program (BCLP). The team also will participate in three follow-up workshops.

A program of the Grand Rapids-based Blandin Foundation, BCLP has provided experiential leadership training for more than 7,000 community leaders from nearly 500 rural Minnesota communities since it began in 1985.  This is the fifth time the communities have participated in the BCLP leadership program.

Local residents participating in this training were:

Karie Barry, Stacy Bender-Fayette, Eric Carlson, Jesse Carey, Flann Christenson, Leslie Frosaker, Misty Frenzel, Steve Geerdes, Jace Grangruth, Emily Hallstrom, Wyatt Jensen, Jesse Kilde, Shelli Krueth, Nate Lien, Amy Mastin, Christina Regas, Demo Regas, Carol Reierson, Jamie Skoe, Renae Swanson, Jay Waldo, Marne Waldo, and Adam Ziegler.

The goal of the Blandin Community Leadership Program is to develop and train a broad base of local leaders to build healthy communities. Topics covered during the retreat included: identifying and describing community issues and opportunities through the lens of the 9 dimensions of a healthy community, effective interpersonal communication, building social capital, appreciating personality differences, managing interpersonal conflict, understanding community power, mobilizing community resources, and goal setting.

“A healthy community depends on leadership engagement of community members,” said Kathy Annette, president and CEO of Blandin Foundation. “The leadership demonstrated by these participants reflects their commitment to their community, as well as to the region and to rural Minnesota.”

BCLP training programs are funded entirely by the Blandin Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen rural Minnesota communities, especially the Grand Rapids area.

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Blackduck
Kelliher
Northome

Photo caption – Blackduck Kelliher Northome area

Participants in BCLP training April 8 – 12 included:

Back Row: (left to right)– Nehrwr Abdul-Wahid (Trainer), Jamie Skoe, Renae Swanson, Stacy Bender-Fayette, Christina Regas, Jace Grangruth, Misty Frenzel, and Adam Ziegler 

Middle Row: (left to right)– Carol Reierson, Nate Lien, Marne Waldo, Karie Barry, Leslie Frosaker, Demo Regas, Emily Hallstrom, Flann Christenson, and Ann Glumac (Trainer) 

Front Row: (left to right)– Shelli Krueth, Jay Waldo, Steve Geerdes, Eric Carlson, Jesse Kilde, Amy Mastin, Jesse Carey, and Wyatt Jensen