Leader of the Year Award

Leadership Evergreen presents the annual Leader of the Year award to honor an outstanding individual who has demonstrated creative and innovative solutions to community issues in the greater Evergreen area.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO HEATHER ABERG WITH RESILIENCE 1220 – LEADERSHIP EVERGREEN’S 2019 LEADER OF THE YEAR!

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John Thexton was the Keynote Speaker and his speech is here:

Leadership-Bridging Difference

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Our Featured Speaker

John Thexton is a PH.D., a reverend, an ER nurse and has worked as the director of Cityconnexx, a nonprofit with the mission of connecting other nonprofits with those in need and coaching them on how to engage with a community in a way that provides all involved with the best possible outcome.

Today John spends much of his time traveling around the globe where he teaches a master’s program in organizational leadership with Development Associates International. This involves a 1-week intensive than 20 weeks of mentorship and online teaching. The students are from all walks of life: business persons, teachers, non-profit directors, physicians. The goal is to partner with indigenous leadership to promote sustainable community development.

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ABOUT THE NOMINEES

Heather Aberg (pictured here with her family) – Resilience 1220

Heather started Resilience 1220, a nonprofit created in 2019 to address the increasing number of suicides and attempted suicides in our community. This nonprofit provides free individual and group counseling (as well as outreach and programs) to youth so that their issues can be addressed and their resilience increased. For years, Heather has run a monthly support group for those who have lost a loved one to suicide. She was a bereavement counselor with Mt. Evans for 20 years and had a private practice for over 7 years.

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Cindy Latham – Evergreen Rotary Wildfire Task Force

Cindy, who has only lived in Evergreen for a year, mobilized her neighbors and made her HOA a Firewise community within 6 months of starting the effort.  She is a Team Leader for the North Turkey Creek Community Wildfire Protection and Implementation Plan, serves on the community wildfire readiness leadership team with Evergreen Fire Rescue and has been working closely with Colorado State Forestry, Evergreen Fire Rescue and Elk Creek Fire Department on multiple projects. She also joined Evergreen Rotary one year ago and chairs their Wildfire Task Force.

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Jeanne Beaudry – Mountain Area Land Trust

Under Jeanne’s tenure of over a decade, MALT has conserved a total of 22,901 acres. Because of her passion and integrity, In 2019, Jeanne spearheaded the acquisition of Sacramento Creek Ranch in Park County, which is part of MALT’s service area. She and the staff applied for and received a Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA) and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grant last year which gave MALT three weeks of work from the Mile High Youth Corps which helped to create more trails for hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking. In the past, Jeanne led the way, among many other accomplishments, for MALT’s accreditation that most land trusts in the nation do not obtain.

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Dr. Jeff Brodsky – JOY International

Dr. Jeff Brodsky is a world-renowned author and global expert in the field of anti-trafficking. In 1981, Dr. Brodsky founded JOY International with the vision of bringing freedom, hope and joy to suffering children around the world. Dr. Jeff and JOY International staff members travel all over the world to speak about trafficking, how to recognize it when you see it, and what you can do to help prevent it. On July 19th, 2010, Dr. Jeff began living totally barefoot to show solidarity and bring awareness to the plight of children being held as sex slaves around the world. His organization has contributed to the rescue of over 2,000 children, teens and young women.

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Brandon Brekke – Evergreen High School
Brandon began his career in education in 2006, originally as a History teacher. He taught at an international school in Costa Rica for two year while pursuing his MA degree in educational leadership. He was fortunate to rejoin the Jeffco family as a Dean and Assistant Principal, at Jefferson High School, Drake Middle School, and Evergreen High School in 2015.

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Thank you, food vendors, for providing heavy appetizers!!

               

 

             

 

     

   

         

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Previous “Leader of the Year” Recipients 

2018                Rabbi Jamie Arnold

2017                Eric Gill 

2016                Wayne Parkinson

2015                Rome Chelsi

2014                Dean Dalvit – Leader of the Year
                         Linda Kirkpatrick – 2015 Lifetime Leadership Award

2013                Bob Cardwell

2012                Cherie Gerou

2011                Steve Sumner

2010                Hank Alderfer

2008                Gail Ridings – Outstanding Leader
                         Rita Felde – Outstanding Alumna 

2006                Loreen Joos

2004                Peter Eggers

2015 Honoree Celebration Audience, with a standing ovation for award winners