Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

Welcome to the Leadership Pleasanton Class of 2013

This week marks the 23rd time Leadership Pleasanton has launched another eight-month program to offer a select group of city, civic and business leaders an intense and rewarding look at how our community operates. At the launch breakfast Wednesday, City Manager Nelson Fialho, himself a Leadership Pleasanton graduate, called it "an absolutely great program" that gives participants a chance to meet, hear and see first-hand the managers of key public and private organizations.

The 28 members of the Leadership Class of 2013 will now follow the more than 600 alumni, including many who were at Wednesday's breakfast, in meeting with city political and administrative leaders, including Fialho, school board members and Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi and her staff, law enforcement, hospital and other health organization representatives, cultural arts and recreation leaders and even members of the local media who spend a day talking about the importance of covering local news.

Started in 1988 by the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce and now co-sponsored by the city of Pleasanton, Leadership Pleasanton identifies emerging community leaders and offers them broad exposure to issues considered vital to our community. In a sense, it is an education forum in which participants look into the myriad of private businesses, public agencies, nonprofits and elected officials who make up the economic and political environment of Pleasanton. Through these contacts, interactive exercises and field trips, participants expand their leadership skills, knowledge and influence on our community. The contacts they make along the way often are helpful in their own careers.

The program also has been successful in encouraging participants to take a personal and greater interest in the city in which we live by serving on public and nonprofit commissions, boards and advisory groups. A number of leaders now serving in these capacities first learned of the opportunities in Leadership Pleasanton classes. As Fialho told the Class of 2013 on Wednesday, it's this involvement and awareness of the needs and opportunities in Pleasanton that sets this community apart from others.

Members of the Class of 2013 are Steve Baker, Baker Financial Consulting; Bryan Bowers, Hodnefield Properties; Randy Brown, PMZ Real Estate; Anna Maria Carter, Hilton Hotel; Donna Colteaux, a resident; and Michele Crosse, of the city of Pleasanton's Community Services Department.

Also in the class are Grace Kato, Walmart; Steve Kirkpatrick, Pleasanton Community Development Department; Penny Lane, Karlsson & Lane accountancy corporation; Sara LeBrun, Pleasanton Marriott; Greg Lewis, Pleasanton ClubSport; and Dora Lozano, Pleasanton's Operations Services Department.

Others in the Class of 2013 are Cathy Malone, University of Phoenix; Mackenzie Matthews, Beets Hospitality Group; Ruth McAninch, Blue Oaks Church; Peggy Carpenter, Valley Teachers Resource Center; Sheryl Morgan, Hewlett Packard; Janet Mullaney, a resident; Jack Kimel, Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department; and Paul Perez, Heritage Bank of Commerce.

Members of the Class of 2013 also include Arman Prasad, 1st United Services Credit Union; Jeffrey Blair, Tri-Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau; Serena Rhoton and Harold Roundtree, both of UNCLE Credit Union; Linda Sandifur, violinist; Jill Schultz, Tri-Valley YMCA; Heather Stanek, Pleasanton ClubSport; and Nicole Steward, Pleasanton Unified School District.

We join with others in the community in welcoming these new community leaders to the Pleasanton Leadership Class of 2013.