The 25th class of the Leadership Northwest Missouri program recently held their graduation ceremony.
The organization's website says the first class was held in 2001, after community leaders came together in December 1999 to brainstorm about regional issues.
The 20 members of this year's class, who adopted the theme "The Lead Without Limits Class", represent Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Daviess, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Livingston, and Nodaway counties.
This year's class presented the organization's annual citizenship award to Marla Heeler of St. Joseph, who began an adaptive dance program for children with disabilities and for 20 years has held a fundraising event supporting St. Joseph's Voices of Courage Child Advocacy Center.
News release from Leadership Northwest Missouri:
Leadership Northwest Missouri recently held their 2026 graduation ceremony in Jamesport at the Spillman Event Center. The celebration began with a welcome by Master of Ceremonies, Madalyn Kapp, Chair of the Graduation Planning Committee, 2025 LNWMO alum, and LNWMO board member. Kim Brake, 2026 LNWMO graduate, blessed the group with an invocation prior to dinner. Mindie Stovall of the Class of 2026, reflected on the class year sharing memorable moments, followed by a video presentation created by Keifer Nemyer, Class of 2026. Dr. Tim Crowley shared uplifting leadership thoughts to all in attendance. Rachel Brown, Board President and 2024 LNWMO alum, presented a token of appreciation to Program Sponsors-Affiliate: Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri; Platinum: Altec Industries and BTC Bank; Gold: Farmers State Bank; Silver: Carroll County Memorial Hospital, Hedrick Medical Center/Wright Memorial Hospital, Mosaic Health System, North Central Missouri College, and Northwest Missouri State University; Bronze: Nodaway Valley Bank and St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. Rachel Brown, recognized retiring board members: Marcie Cutsinger (Class of 2001), Trenton, Kasi Norris (Class of 2022), St. Joseph, Cole Soptic (Class of 2023), Trenton, Jackie Spainhower (Class of 2015), Grant City, and Carrie Watkins (Class of 2023), St. Joseph.
Ramsay Blair, Class of 2026 graduate and recently appointed board member, presented the Leadership Northwest Missouri Citizenship Award for 2026 to Marla Heeler, owner of The Dance Arts Center in St. Joseph. Marla has dedicated her life to empowering children and strengthening her community through mentorship and service. She created an adaptive dance program for children with disabilities and created an annual fundraising event that has raised over $160,000 to support Voices of Courage Child Advocacy Center in St. Joseph over the last 20 years.
Rachel Brown presented each of the 20 graduating class members a certificate for completing the program. Graduates from the 2026 class, “The Lead Without Limits Class,” represented the following Northwest Missouri Counties-Andrew County: Ramsay Blair; Atchison County: Kim Brake, Keifer Nemyer, and Summer Reeves; Buchanan County: Michael Evans, Jeremy Glenn, Matthew Stine, and Latha Varghese; Caldwell County: Christa Horne; Carroll County: Mindy Kelly and Mindie Stovall; Daviess County: Kelly Hulett; Grundy County: Kimberly Meeker; Harrison County: Diane Williams; Holt County: Scott Sullins; Livingston County: Shelby Beetsma, and Brett Oertwig; Nodaway County: Gabby Martin, Cameron Mullock, and Rachel Peter.
A special thank you to the Graduation Planning Committee from the Class of 2025: Madalyn Kapp, Shelbie Alexander, Kaley Coulter, Brooke Johnson, Brittney Siddens, and Kim Surprise.
Leadership Northwest Missouri is a leadership development program designed to bring together participants from throughout a 19-county region to build, strengthen and inspire leaders through training and networking experiences. This class began in January and continued through June with monthly sessions in various Northwest Missouri communities. Classes during the 2026 class year were held in Conception, Chillicothe, St. Joseph, Brookfield, Maryville, Rock Port, and Bethany. Each session contained instruction on various leadership skills, in-depth examination of various issues facing the region and hands-on exercises. In addition to entrepreneurship, other regional issues that were addressed included healthcare, community revitalization, agriculture, and mental health opportunities.
