Lac Qui Parle area residents complete Blandin Community Leadership Program retreat

Grand Rapids, Minn. (April 17, 2018) — Twenty-three residents of the Lac Qui Parle area returned April 13 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 first time these communities have participated together in the BCLP leadership program.

Local residents participating in this training were:

Al Anderson, Josh Beninga, Ben Bothun, Lauren Carlson, Stephanie Clausen, P.J. Ellison, Josh Falness, Luanne Fondell, Antonio Franklin Jr., Kirsten Gloege, Val Halvorson, Randy Larson Jr., Jesi Martinson, Dwight Mork, Barb Redepenning, Greg Schmidt, Tami Schuelke-Sampson, Tim Siegert, Eric Stahl, Kendall Stelter, Randy Tensen, Amy Weir and Kristyn Wicht.

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.

Click here to learn more about Blandin Foundation’s support of the Lac Qui Parle area.

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Photo caption – Lac Qui Parle area

Participants in BCLP training April 9 – 13 included:

Back Row: (left to right)– Kendall Stelter, Kristyn Wicht , Tami Schuelke-Sampson, Amy Weir, Stephanie Clausen, Lauren Carlson, Tim Siegert, and Sara Schonwald (Trainer)

Middle Row: (left to right)– Doug Heck (Observer), Jesi Martinson, Barb Redepenning, Randy Larson Jr., Val Halvorson, Randy Tensen, Ben Bothun, P.J. Ellison, Antonio Franklin Jr., and Vic Klimoski (Trainer)

Front Row: (left to right) – Greg Schmidt, Luanne Fondell, Al Anderson, Josh Beninga, Kirsten Gloege, Eric Stahl, Dwight Mork, and Josh Falness