Future leaders meet community
Molly Shore
Their ranks include city and school district employees, community
volunteers and business people each seeking to become a leader in the
community.
The 26 new members of Leadership Burbank’s Class of 2004 were
introduced to the community Wednesday night at a reception hosted by
Woodbury University.
The university jointly sponsors the program with the city, the
school district and the Burbank Chamber of Commerce. The program
helps prepare men and women to guide and shape the future of the
city, said Susan Bowers, the chamber’s executive director.
“What we wanted to do was provide an opportunity to those people
who want to be leaders,” Bowers said. “We’re looking to the future,
and we want to ensure that future.”
“These courses will accelerate my ability to move up in the
company,” said Kim LaFollette, a Warner Bros. employee who hopes to
one day become a liaison between the studio and the city.
Kreigh Hampel, the city’s new recycling coordinator and a 16-year
resident of Burbank, is eager to participate in this year’s
Leadership Burbank program.
“It is a good chance to meet more people in the community and do
more outreach,” Hampel said, adding that his personal goal is to
increase commercial recycling in the city.
In his welcoming remarks, City Councilman Jef Vander Borght told
the incoming class that the community can always find better ways of
doing things.
“I expect to see all of you take a stronger leadership role from
this class,” Vander Borght said. “Life in Burbank is never static.”
J.P. O’Connor, who helps teach Leadership Burbank classes with
James DeLizia, said the incoming group offers different perspectives,
including age and work and volunteer experience.
“I think that the kind of people that we want to attract have a
zeal that says, ‘I want to be a leader,’ ” O’Connor said.