Cohort Reflections
Step Up & Run
Bev Dransfeldt Elected Director, Pleasant Valley Recreation & Parks Board Ventura County Leadership Academy has been such a moving, wonderful program filled with so much eye-opening information, inspirational speakers and a legendary cohort. I counted down the months until the Sacramento trip and had everything ready to go early on. Pattie Braga, our fearless leader,…
Read MoreDon’t Let Your Title Define Who You Are
Michelle D’Anna Community Relations Officer, City of Camarillo “Don’t let your title define who you are.” Let that sink in for a minute. At first, this statement struck me as an odd way to begin a conversation with a room full of professionals who are embarking on a leadership journey. Are we not a diverse cohort…
Read MoreMexicans Don’t Sing About Their Horses
Robert E. Canko NAM Sustainability & Outreach ManagerBayer – U.S. Crop Science VCLA’s Cohort 27 Legends convened at the Oxnard Union High School District for our sixth session on the first Friday of February 2022. We enjoyed a wildly enlightening day on the topic of education in Ventura County from a wide cast of selfless…
Read MoreLearning a Little About My New Home
Richard Gutierrez Chief Financial Officer, Casa Pacifica VCLA Cohort XXVII Being accepted into this year’s Ventura County Leadership Academy has been such a benefit to me already. Being new to the area in the time of Covid has made getting to know my new home very difficult. When I learned of this program, I jumped…
Read MorePlaying Our Part in Water Conservation
Kirk Lagerquist Chief Staff Officer, US Navy VCLA Cohort XXVII We recently completed our fourth session of VCLA in early December 2021, where we focused on Water, Utilities and the Environment. I found the day to be quite fascinating, particularly the water, refuse and utilities portions. As a career Civil Engineer Corps officer, I have…
Read MoreBalancing Two of Ventura County’s Biggest Challenges
Darrin Peschka Ventura County Transportation Commission, Government and Community Relations Program Manager What are two of the biggest challenges facing Ventura County? Jobs and affordable housing.That’s what I took away from the third session of the Ventura County Leadership Academy, when Cohort XXVII took a dive into housing and the local economy. If you’ve been…
Read MoreSession Review of the Economy & Transportation
Meridith Thompson Assistant Controller, The Trade Desk The November 2021 cohort 27 session was jam-packed with regional information about transportation, housing and how the two intersect. We started our day in Ventura, with a series of speakers that focused on leadership and housing-relates topics. Tracylee Clarke lead us in a discussion of leadership styles, challenging…
Read MoreThe Crisis of the Unhoused in Thousand Oaks
Atticus Reyes Field Representative, Office of CA State Assemblymember Steve Bennett VCLA Cohort XXVII The second session of VCLA consisted of community outreach projects where we were all split into small groups and dispersed across different cities of Ventura County to learn about their issues and report back to the cohort. This was quite an…
Read MoreThe Status Quo is Nowhere to Be Found During a Pandemic
Jess Weihe Director or Marketing, Mustang Marketing VCLA Cohort XXVI “Listen to their voices,” rung in my head — a sentiment expressed from an earlier speaker, as Michael Jump, chief deputy district attorney and director of victim and community services for the County of Ventura, shared with us why the ceilings in the new Ventura County…
Read MoreAgriculture, Water, and the Environment
Dhruv Pandya VCLA Cohort XXVI Information Security Specialist, J.D. Power Terri Anderson VCLA Cohort XXVI Labor Relations Manager, County of Ventura What a day! Ventura County is known for many things, but one of THE top things for which our county is known for is Agriculture. And of course, how agriculture grows is affected by…
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