| Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender will join us on October 18th to talk about his leadership style and his experience serving as mayor.
Steve Allender is a native South Dakotan, and was raised in a military family. After his father retired from the Air Force, his family moved to Belle Fourche, where Steve attended grade school through high school. He began his career in law enforcement in 1983 working for the Belle Fourche Police Department. In 1985 he joined the Rapid City Police Department and spent the next 29 years serving as a patrol officer, detective, sergeant, crime lab director, lieutenant, captain and eventually chief of police. He retired from the RCPD in May 2014. In June, 2015 Steve was elected Mayor of Rapid City. Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in management from NAU and has attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Shirley and they have two adult children and two grandchildren. Please join us on October 18th at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel. To reserve your seat, please RSVP online. Tickets are just $20, and you can pay online by following the link above. While you can pay at the door, we will have limited walk-in seats available on the day of the event. We are very grateful for our sponsors of this event. If you are interested in sponsoring a monthly luncheon, please see a member of the board or email BlackHillsLeadership@gmail.com. Sponsored by:
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September Luncheon
| School is back in session and so are the Black Hills Leadership Development luncheons! Join us on September 20th for your monthly dose of motivation from local leader, Vaughn Vargas!
Vaughn Vargas is Siha Sipa (Black Feet) Lakota of what is now known as the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. His great grandfather was James Holy Eagle Sr. Vaughn grew up in Rapid City where he graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT) with his Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management. While at SDSMT, Vaughn became SDSMT’s first Udall Foundation Scholar and first Truman Foundation Scholar. A few other notable accomplishments of Vaughn’s are becoming a 2017 Bush Foundation Fellow, the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board “2013 Rising Star in Public Health and Research”, 2015 National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development “40 Under 40” recipient, a Hawkinson Foundation “2015 Peace and Justice Leader,” and an American Indian College Fund Tribal College Ambassador. Vaughn is pursuing his Master’s in Management from the Harvard Extension School with a certificate in Organizational Behavior and a certificate in Corporate Finance. He will take leadership training from the FBI Academy and Harvard University. Please join us on September 20th at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel. To reserve your seat, please RSVP online. Tickets are just $20, and you can pay online by following the link above. While you can pay at the door, we will have limited walk-in seats available on the day of the event. We are very grateful for our sponsors of this event. If you are interested in sponsoring a monthly luncheon, please see a member of the board or email BlackHillsLeadership@gmail.com. Sponsored by:
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April Luncheon
| Spring is the perfect time to brush up on your leadership skills! Join us on April 17th to learn about “Leadership for Community Challenges to Community Solutions” presented by Dr. Albert Linderman with Rapid CIty Collective Impact.
Albert Linderman, Ph.D., CEO of Sagis Corporation, is a cultural anthropologist guiding community change and leadership transitions. He currently directs Rapid City Collective Impact, a multi-year initiative for improving life and living in the city, particularly for those facing significant social service needs. Rapid City Collective Impact, now well into its second year has initiatives in 4 areas in 2017, Food Security, Affordable Housing, Behavioral Health and ACEs, as well as coordinating the work around the development of wrap around services for individuals and families in the most vulnerable situations. Over the past few years, Linderman worked with collective impact work in Woodbury, Minnesota, and leadership transitions for several major Minnesota health care organizations as well as for the Alliance of Community Health Plans in Washington, D.C. He is author of Why the world around you isn’t as it appears (2012, SteinerBooks), and several recent articles including, “Rapid City Collective Impact: A City-Wide Effort to Create Quality of Life for all its Citizens”, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Vol. 3, 2016. Albert’s Book Recommendation is Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Please join us on April 19th at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel (formerly called Adoba). To reserve your seat, please RSVP online. Tickets are just $20, and you can pay online by following the link above. While you can pay at the door, we will have limited walk-in seats available on the day of the event. We are very grateful for our sponsors of this event. If you are interested in sponsoring a monthly luncheon, please see a member of the board or email BlackHillsLeadership@gmail.com. Sponsored by:
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March Luncheon
| Our March luncheon features Rob Mudge, President of RPM and Associates.
Robert P. Mudge is a South Dakota native and graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, in the late 70’s, with a BS and MS in Metallurgical Engineering. Mr. Mudge worked in industry from his graduation until 1982 when he co-founded RPM & Associates, Inc., which is now recognized internationally as a leader in solving wear problems for heavy industry. He has been an entrepreneur most of his professional career and has co-founded two additional companies. RPM Solutions, Inc., was founded in 1996, which manufactures high speed precision rotary atomizers used in pollution control systems. RPM & Associates began investigating Laser Deposition Technology in 2001 and operated a laser division until 2013 when a spin-off company, RPM Innovations, Inc. was created to focus on servicing their growing aerospace customer base. RPM Innovations is now arguably the world leader in “powder fed” Laser Deposition Technology (LDT). RPMI has been designing and building their own laser systems since 2009 and currently offers the world’s largest controlled atmosphere build volume (5’X5’X7’) for any powder fed laser deposition system in the industry. In an effort to grow the powder fed laser deposition industry, in June 2014, RPMI announced their laser systems are now available for purchase by the public. On a personal note, Mr. Mudge was a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013 from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. In 2013 and 2014, Mr. Mudge was the 28th Maintenance Group Honorary Commander at Ellsworth Air Force Base and in 2015 Mr. Mudge was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame. Mr. Mudge and his wife of 43+ years have two married daughters and five grandchildren. Over the last 20+ years, Rob and Deb have been active in several local and international nonprofit organizations. Please join us on March 15th at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel (formerly called Adoba). To reserve your seat, please RSVP online. Tickets are just $20, and you can pay online by following the link above. While you can pay at the door, we will have limited walk-in seats available on the day of the event. We are very grateful for our sponsors of this event. If you are interested in sponsoring a monthly luncheon, please see a member of the board or email BlackHillsLeadership@gmail.com. Sponsored by:
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February Luncheon
Our February luncheon features Scott Engmann, Executive Director for the Black Hills Area Habitat for Humanity.
Scott Engmann is a Father of 3 boys, and has been married to his wife Ceri for 12 years. He has served as the Executive Director for Black Hills Area Habitat for Humanity since 2006. In its 25th year, the affiliate celebrated serving 200 families through its local and global reach. He has served with Habitat in Costa Rica and Hungary, and locally has spearheaded the launch of two ReStore social enterprises while expanding the affiliate’s service area to include the Pine Ridge Indian reservation. Scott was nominated to serve on Habitat for Humanity International’s US Council and Advocacy Committee. In his spare time, Scott loves to ski, cycle, travel, write and help raise the next generation of adventurers. Scott is a graduate of Northwestern University, and holds his Masters of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Please join us on February 15th at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel (formerly called Adoba). To reserve your seat, please RSVP online. Tickets are just $20, and you can pay online by following the link above. While you can pay at the door, we will have limited walk-in seats available on the day of the event. We are very grateful for our sponsors of this event. If you are interested in sponsoring a monthly luncheon, please see a member of the board or email BlackHillsLeadership@gmail.com. Sponsored by:
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January Luncheon
Our January luncheon features David Emery, Chairman and CEO of Black Hills Corporation. David R. Emery is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Black Hills Corporation, a customer-focused, growth-oriented, vertically-integrated utility company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. The company serves 1.2 million electric and natural gas utility customers in 800 communities in eight states. Mr. Emery has served as Chief Executive Officer since 2004 and Chairman of the Board since 2005. He also served as President from 2004 through 2015. Prior to being named CEO he held several other roles with the company, including President and Chief Operating Officer – Retail Business Segment from 2003 to 2004, and Vice President – Fuel Resources from 1997 to 2003. From 1993 to 1997, Mr. Emery was General Manager of the company’s oil and gas subsidiary. Between 1989 and 1993 he served in the oil and gas subsidiary as an Engineering Manager and Petroleum Engineer. Mr. Emery has 27 years with Black Hills. Prior to joining Black Hills Corporation, Mr. Emery worked as a Petroleum Engineer for Union Pacific Resources in Denver, Colorado; Rock Springs, Wyoming; Houston and Fort Worth, Texas. He holds a B.S. degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming, a M.B.A. from the University of South Dakota and is a Registered Professional Engineer. Mr. Emery is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. He is active in numerous industry organizations, serving on the Board of Directors of the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Edison Electric Institute and the American Gas Association. He is also active in state and community affairs and is involved in various charitable and non-profit community organizations. Please join us on January 18th at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel (formerly called Adoba). To reserve your seat, please RSVP online. Tickets are just $20, and you can pay online by following the link above. While you can pay at the door, we will have limited walk-in seats available on the day of the event. We are very grateful for our sponsors of this event. If you are interested in sponsoring a monthly luncheon, please see a member of the board or email BlackHillsLeadership@gmail.com. Sponsored by:
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November Luncheon
Our November luncheon features Kristina McCollam, Director of Business and Client Development at Assurant. Her speech is titled Personal Branding – Offline. Kristina McCollam is a boomerang native of Rapid City who spent entirely way too much time in higher education (first as student, then as professor). Upon returning to Rapid she discovered that there were few to no jobs requiring her skill set, and made the decision to try something completely new. She was hired by Assurant as a bilingual phone rep in one of the customer service teams and after four and a half years with the company is currently the Director of Business and Client Development for the Global Preneed Business. Kristina was a member of the Leadership Rapid City Class of ’07, the class that brought you Summer Nights. She served on the Summer Nights Board of Directors (coordinating corporate volunteer beer teams and hauling a lot of trash) until 2014, and remains active with the LRC program as a class facilitator. Her most recent accomplishment is receiving her Known Traveler number for TSA Pre-check and is very excited to leave her shoes on and her liquids and laptop in her bag. Please join us on November 16th at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel (formerly called Adoba). To reserve your seat, please RSVP online. Tickets are just $20, and you can pay online by following the link above. While you can pay at the door, we will have limited walk-in seats available on the day of the event. |
September Luncheon
Welcome back! September is the start of our third year of and Black Hills Leadership luncheons. Kick-starting this season is Lieutenant Peter Ragnone of the Rapid City Police Department. Pete was born and raised in Flint, Michigan where he consumed volumes of water which explains the obvious. He is a fisherman and hockey player but not good enough at either to make a living so he pursued “Plan B.” Pete has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan and a Master of the Arts in Political Science from the University of South Dakota. He is in his 14th year teaching as an adjunct professor in Criminal Justice and Philosophy at the University of South Dakota and Black Hills State University and 25th year at the Rapid City Police Department. Pete is currently the Special Operations Lieutenant of the Rapid City Police Department, recently he lead the accreditation team of the department was awarded the Meritorious Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation with Excellence in Baltimore, Maryland. He will be retiring this fall and plans on spending his days improving his fishing and hockey skills. Oh yea, and he was a member of the amazing Leadership Rapid City class that organized Summer Nights. The title of his speech is: “Leading Change, Philosophically Speaking” Please join us on September 21st at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel (formerly called Adoba). To reserve your seat, please RSVP online. Tickets are just $20, and you can pay online by following the link above. While you can pay at the door, we will have limited walk-in seats available on the day of the event. |
April Luncheon
The Black Hills Leadership luncheon in April will feature Renee Parker, Executive Director of United Way of the Black Hills. Renee Parker has been a resident of Rapid City since 1953. She attended school at General Beadle and Knollwood Elementary, North Junior High, and graduated from Rapid City Central High School in 1971. She attended South Dakota State University and Black Hills State University. Parker has served as the Executive Director of United Way of the Black Hills, since 1993, serving communities throughout the Black Hills area. In 2015 $2,409,000 was raised to help 55 local non-profit organizations. Please join us on April 20th at 11:30 AM at the The Rushmore Hotel (formerly called Adoba). We are very grateful for our sponsors of this event. If you are interested in sponsoring a monthly luncheon, please see a member of the board or email BlackHillsLeadership@gmail.com. Sponsored by:
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March Luncheon
| The Black Hills Leadership luncheon in March will feature Col. Gentry Boswell, Commander of Ellsworth Air Force Base.
Please join us on March 16th at 11:30 AM at the Adoba Hotel. We are very grateful for our sponsors of this event. If you are interested in sponsoring a monthly luncheon, please see a member of the board or email BlackHillsLeadership@gmail.com. Sponsored by:
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Black Hills Leadership Development 