LGAA & Community News Blog

are you looking for a way to make a difference?  Thank you to Jan Patterson for sending this to me.  We have an opportunity to join other LG grads in leadership roles and get involved on a city and county level.

Alachua County is currently seeking applications for several advisory boards. Below is a link to the list of vacancies and applications. Be a part of the process! Please take the time to apply and encourage your friends to do the same.

Code Enforcement, Economic Development, Local Planning and Value Adjustment are a few of the committees accepting applications.

http://advisoryboards.alachuacounty.us/boards/vacancies.aspx

If you apply, please let us know so we can share your success with other LG grads!

-Scott Costello (LG 35)
Go Blue!

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

I hope you will join me and lots of other child advocates and interested folks in making the well-being and education of our children the state's highest priority. This new initiative is called the Children's Movement of Florida -- http://childrensmovementflorida.org/ -- and is being spearheaded statewide by a large, influential and non-partisan group of state leaders. This state tour will host 15 "milk and cookies" parties across the state starting in Pensacola and working down to Key West. We would like to show our community and our state that Gainesville truly cares about its children by getting at least 1,000 people to participate.  Hope you will join me in the one-hour rally on September 8th in Gainesville to raise awareness of and support for the movement. The time: 6 p.m. to 7p.m. The place: Santa Fe College Gymanasium-3000 NW 83rd St. The goal is 1000 people per location in order to attract the media and to make a statement to the FL legislature that kids are our priority.  Each site will attract families and advocates with refreshments, local bands & choirs, balloons, entertainment, local celebrities, milk & cookies, and buses to get folks to the event, etc. It is backed by grants from the Kellogg Foundation among several others. Will you help me to get the word out about the rallies and encourage your friends, families, business and social colleagues to attend?  This is not a request for money and or involvement in campaigns.....Just an hour of your time and sending a few emails.  Thanks so much!  PS   For more information the website is as follows: (<http://childrensmovementflorida.org/>) or contact David Abrams <<mailto:david.abrams@childrensmovementflorida.org>>

LGAA is building momentum and we are well on our way to reaching our goal of over 100 returning members to the association.

Today alone, I spoke to members of 6 different classes, from LG 05 through LG 35.

If you are interested in helping share the LGAA story and show your class why now is the time to rejoin the association, email us @ lgaamembership@gmail.com and we will get you the information you need.

-Scott

It is my honor to serve as President  of LGAA for the 2010-2011 year.  It is humbling to be chosen and I vow to work hard to grow our assocation.

I want to share with you what is going on with LGAA and what my goals are, but it is impossible to look forward without first looking back.  Led by Kim Mitrook last year, we watched as she gave every ounce of effort and energy to make LGAA a household name in the community. She inspired others to participate and helped grow our membership.  With an incredible team beside me, I believe we can continue to grow LGAA even further. 

I have four goals for LGAA this year.  The first is to be active and involved with all of our committees. As our organization continues to grow, and we have had a big growth already in the last six months, we need leaders to step up and help.  Our committee heads have taken charge and are bringing the decisions to the Board to vote on, which has streamlined the process and helped us get more structured.  I want to learn what each committee’s wants and needs are.  You can help by reviewing on our website these committees and joining the one that most interests you.

My second goal is to build on our relationship with the Chamber while being less reliant on them.  Our Leadership Program is run very well and helps build relationships that grow this community.  It is our duty as the Alumni Association for this program to grow along with them and partner with them for success. 

My third goal is to look inside and outside for leadership and guidance.  We are now on our 37^th class of Leadership Gainesville.  With almost 1400 people going through this program, there are some tremendous leaders.  Kim Mitrook and I are going to meet with alumni, share what we are doing and get advice from them on how to take us to the next level. Along the same lines, our Exec Team will be speaking to leaders of other Leadership associations around the state to learn how they are run and see if there is anything we can implement.

Finally, it is our goal to double the size of the active membership of LGAA.  Two months ago, we were sitting at 147 active members.  Active meaning paid to renew their membership.  My goal is to get that number over 300 and closer to 400 by the end of the year.  More than just collecting dues, we want to reengage our alumni.  This is where we can partner together.  If we are all participating, it will be easy to share with others what we are doing and get them excited to be a part of it.

It is going to be an exciting year for LGAA.

Scott.

just wanted to remind everyone that the next Board Meeting will be Wednesday, July 28th at 8:15am.  It will be held at the Shands HOME Care office on NW 98th, across the street from Meadowbrook Golf Course.

This meeting is open to all LG alumni and gives you the opportunity to hear about what our committees are working on, what events are coming up and the issues that we are involved in.

Feel free to come by and get involved.

The Annual Meeting was wonderful last week. John Spence was truly a highlight of the evening! Congratulations to our award winners as well!

Spirit of Leadership Awards:

• Spirit of Leadership Award for LGAA 5K ~Evan Stone (LG 34)
• Spirit of Leadership Award for Programming ~Marjorie Speer (LG 32)
• Spirit of Leadership Award for Making a Difference~Greg Bradley (LG 34)
• Spirit of Leadership Award for Making a Difference~Scott Costello (LG 35)
• Spirit of Leadership Award for Making a Difference~Angel Pachkowski (LG 35)
• Spirit of Leadership Award ~ Advisor ~Brent Christensen (LG 29)
• Spirit of Leadership Award ~ Advisor~ Peter Lars Johnson (LG 31)

Leadership Excellence Awards:

Gator Bill Spirit Award ~ Passion. Enthusiasm. Dedication. ~ Bill Evans (LG 10)

2009-2010 Sponsor of the Year Award ~ Kiwanis Club of Gainesville

Rising Star Award ~ Emilee MacDonald (LG 35)

LGAA Leadership Excellence Award ~ Pete Zimek (LG 35)

2009-2010 Community Leadership Excellence Award ~ John Spence (LG 26)

Last night's annual dinner was a record setting event for our organization (and I am not talking about just the temperature).

Kim Mitrook showed yet again why we have had such growth as she led a terrific meeting.  The highlight of course was John Spence, who gave us a sneak peak at his new book that he is writing and inspired us to take steps of strong leaders and commit to our community.

We have a responsibility to act.  Together, we could/should have the strongest organization in Gainesville.

I am determined to follow through on my goal of doubling the active membership to 400 strong, and would like to ask for each and every member's help.  Go to your classmates and tell them what LGAA is doing.  Encourage them to come along and see for themself.

It's going to be a great year!

LGAA is excited to welcome our guest speaker, John Spence (26), who will share his wisdom on leadership as we start a new year for LGAA. As a world-renown business consultant and speaker, he has presented workshops, speeches and management consulting to more than 300 organizations including; AT&T, IBM, GE Capital, NCR, The US Navy, Alltel, Ameritech, Perot Systems, Lanier, Verizon, Kinko’s, Ford, State Farm, BankAmerica and dozens of private companies, government offices and not-for-profits.  John has been a guest lecturer at over 90 colleges and universities across the United States and is the author of Excellence by Design: Leadership, Awesomely Simple, and countless articles.

For more about John Spence and executive eduation and speaking, you can visit his website, johnspence.com.

Taste of HOME is just around the corner! Join us Sunday, June 13 from 5-9 p.m. at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center for the highlight of the summer.

 

The event will satisfy your taste buds with samples from Embers Wood Grill, Ben and Jerry’s, Gator Dominos and 25 more of the best restaurants in town. Taste of HOME benefits Children’s Home Society of Florida, Child Advocacy Center and select charities chosen by Leadership Gainesville including March of Dimes, Girls to Young Ladies and the Alachua County Public School Foundation’s Take Stock in Children program.

 

Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased at www.tasteofhomegainesville.com.  We look forward to seeing you there!