By Dianne Frances D. Powell
If you look around Wabash Valley businesses or non-profit organizations, you’ll likely find a leader in its ranks educated by Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC).
The SMWC Master of Leadership Development (MLD) program can boast graduates who are decision-makers in their respective companies or organizations. Their work has been changing the Wabash Valley for the better; they are a source of pride for SMWC and its faculty.
“All successful organizations and businesses need effective leaders. They play an important role in formulating strategies and motivating employees to work toward achieving goals,” said MLD Director Susan Decker. “Watching our graduates move into leadership positions has been very rewarding for me. They are making the Wabash Valley a stronger place to live.”
Preparing Future Leaders
One graduate, Brandon Halleck, has been making a difference in the lives of children in the area for almost two decades. He is currently chief operating officer at Chances and Services for Youth (CASY), which serves approximately 7,500 children in 13 counties through a variety of early childhood education and youth programs.
Halleck, a 2011 graduate, said he has been using leadership skills acquired from MLD to help CASY develop programming to affect change throughout the Wabash Valley. “The MLD program really helped push me to think outside the box,” he said.
Halleck says his education helped him lead CASY through several changes as well as the addition of new programming for area kids. Recently, he was involved in the creation of a program which aims to help youth learn about a skillset that Halleck believes is vital in the workplace: leadership. The program, which targets middle schoolers, is called iLead.
Another graduate has been working to enrich the lives of Wabash Valley children. As executive director of the Terre Haute Children’s Museum over the last eight years, Lynn Hughes has been a key player in making the museum a fun science and technology learning environment and a point of community pride.
When Hughes came to the museum in 2009, it was in transition from its old location to its current one at 727 Wabash Avenue. She counts getting the museum opened at its new location and keeping it alive and relevant today among her proudest achievements. For this, she credits the support of the residents of the Wabash Valley and her education from The Woods.
“It [MLD] has certainly changed my life. I don’t know that I would have been able to jump into this position without that degree,” said Hughes, who also gained public relations experience while an employee at SMWC for several years. Much of MLD’s coursework — in finance, human resources, marketing, among others — prepared her for her current job, she said. In fact, Hughes practices what she learned from MLD everyday, she said.
Hughes is a proud 2008 MLD graduate; she is a member of the program’s first cohort. Prominently displayed on a finger in her right hand is the recognizable SMWC ring made of Onyx stone. “I wear it everyday,” she said.
Impact on Business
MLD graduates are also making a difference in the areas of business and politics.
As vice president of an organization that brings more than 750 Terre Haute businesses together, alumna Kristin Craig draws from her SMWC experience to serve the community.
“As a person, it [MLD] gave me a lot more confidence to pursue my dreams. I feel like I got the skills [and] tools necessary and I can accomplish whatever the task is. MLD really taught me how to break down any … task or project to manageable pieces and tackle it,” Craig said.
The 2016 graduate of the MLD program has been working at the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce for the majority of her career. Her MLD research focused on long-term plans and membership dues structure for the Chamber. Informed by this research, strategic changes are coming to the organization in the next two years; this move will bring the community together, Craig said. “All of that started with my MLD and just continued to grow and gain momentum,” she said. “I’m really proud of that.”
As vice president, she helps lead the organization’s overall plan. Recently, she has led the Chamber’s website redesign, updated internal operations and spearheaded the Chamber’s adoption of Downtown Terre Haute Inc. Craig received a bachelor’s degree from SMWC in 2003.
Another MLD alumna, Rachel Leslie, is the name and face behind several recognizable SMWC and Wabash Valley initiatives including the “Light Your Way” Christmas Parade in downtown Terre Haute and the Wabash Valley Leadership Institute (in partnership with Susan Turner, senior director of advancement and alumni relations at SMWC). The 2014 graduate currently serves on the board of important local entities: Terre Haute Regional Airport, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce and the Vigo County Education Foundation. She recently left her position as vice president of external relations at SMWC to launch a new advocacy and lobbying firm, RJL Solutions.
Through it all, Leslie uses a combination of her MLD experience, her work experiences and her own personal drive to succeed. “The overarching principles of confidence, building upon your leadership strengths and not weaknesses, and recognizing building others as an important part of your individual success, are key learning outcomes” of MLD, she said. “If I were to choose one best practice from MLD, it would be to realize your strength and find others who subsidize your weaknesses to build the most qualified and successful teams.”
MLD is a one-year hybrid business and leadership master’s degree program at SMWC. It empowers participants with the latest techniques to navigate complex management issues. Aspiring leaders choose from an area of concentration including organizational leadership and not-for-profit leadership.
“If you look around the Wabash Valley you will find many successful MLD graduates who are leading in important roles,” Leslie said. “These roles are substantial and difference-making.”