By: Shelly Edmonson
Thirteen executives, managers, and professionals graduated from the Flagler County Local Government Leadership Academy at a special ceremony at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Operations Center on Thursday May 18th.
The graduates are:
- John Fanelli, Flagler Schools
- Doug Gonzalez, Flagler County Tax Collector’s Office
- Ron Mello, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
- Kelly Mullen, Flagler County Tax Collector’s Office
- Matthew Rivera, Flagler County Government
- Teresa Rizzo, Flagler County Education Foundation
- Alma Rock-Yanochko, City of Palm Coast
- Jennifer Rodbourn, Flagler County Tax Collector’s Office
- Alyssa Roscoe, City of Palm Coast
- Ryan Simpson, Flagler County Government
- Rosanna Vinci, City of Flagler Beach
- Christopher Wagner, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
- Stacy Whalen, Flagler County Tax Collector’s Office
In this four-month executive education program which meets weekly for two-hour classes at the Tax Collector’s Office, the graduates studied important topics like leadership, human resources, budgeting, risk management, customer service, program evaluation, teamwork, and organizational culture. Students read two highly regarded books on leadership and completed a series of real-world assignments. They enhanced their knowledge of successful leadership and strengthened valuable skills like research, writing, presenting, analysis, decision-making, teamwork, project management, communication, problem-solving, and planning. They learned best practices and utilized data-driven decision-making to select policies and programs with proven performance.
“Leadership is the single greatest predictor of how successful any organization will be. This academy teaches students the key subjects and specific skills to ensure these leaders excel in their roles and responsibilities. We teach everything that our residents would want and expect in our leaders,” stated Flagler County Tax Collector Suzanne Johnston who organized and hosted the classes at her main office.
“As leaders, we have to be thinking about today, tomorrow, and ten and fifty years from today. This academy helps our current leaders be their best and it effectively prepares emerging leaders for future roles. We congratulate all of our graduates on this accomplishment. We look forward to seeing your continued success as you and those you lead create a very bright future for Flagler County for many years to come,” stated Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “We are grateful for the strong partnerships across local governments which make this program possible. By teaching best practices in successful leadership, we help ensure that local government always operates effectively and efficiently to best serve citizens,” said Dr. Joe Saviak who taught the leadership academy.
The next Flagler County Local Government Leadership Academy begins this fall. For more information, please contact the Flagler County Tax Collector Operations Manager / FCLGLA Coordinator, Shelly Edmonson.
