August 2024
President's Corner
Joanna Peyton
"Looking forward to
a great year ahead!"
Here We Go!
Hello Scottsdale Leadership Community! My name is Joanna Peyton, I am Michael Wills’ successor as the incoming president of our Board of Directors. I am so honored to take on this role, and grateful for Michael, the staff and board for welcoming me into this role and for leading us through a very successful year last year.
For those who don’t know me, I’m a mom of 2 teenage boys, wife of 17 years, AZ native, and I work for a healthcare consulting firm as an Operations and HR leader. I graduated in class 28 ‘Dominates’ (don’t do the math, it was a long time ago) and this will be my 4th year on the board of SL.
Enough about me…It’s a new year for Scottsdale Leadership – which means
a new class of innovative leaders come together to learn, share their experiences and find out how to strengthen our community!
However, we can’t tell you who they are just yet! One of the integral parts of the class retreat is that they kick off their offsite retreat without knowing who their classmates are, and actually only use first names – and no professions. Goodbye biases, we’re starting these relationships from scratch! Welcome Class 39, and thank you to Kristi Staab of Class 25 for laying the foundation for a strong leadership journey as facilitator of our Class Retreat. We’ll be sharing class member names and success stories of the retreat soon!
In the meantime, our new Board of Directors has already had an offsite retreat to begin our strategic planning for the year – and we can’t wait to share it with you. Our team of ambitious leaders have created lofty goals and metrics to measure our success, and of course we’ll
need your help to achieve them. When you’re ready to step into a committee, lend a hand at an event, or sponsor a function – please reach out to any staff or board member – we’d love to get you engaged!
Looking forward to a great year ahead! Thank you all for your contributions to our organization, and our community. Your support and involvement is how we fulfill our mission – to inform, inspire and empower leaders to champion and strengthen the interests of the community.
Alumni Engagement
Erin Krivanek, Class 37
Chair of Alumni Engagement
Greetings from the
Alumni Engagement Committee!
My name is Erin Krivanek and I am the Chair along with Vice Chair, Larry Hewitt. We have a lot of exciting events planned for you this year!
Last year was very successful not only for alumni giving, but also for the quality and variety of our events as well. This year will be no exception as we have some great events coming up.
We have brought back our Mentoring Idea Exchange by popular demand. And, let’s have a great showing and give a big Scottsdale Leadership welcome to Class 39 at the Welcome Reception on August 23rd. Details and signup to join us for that event are below.
And finally, we are very excited to announce the 2024-2025 Active Alumni Donor Benefits. We offer different installment plans at all levels to fit any budget! Let’s keep the momentum going!
Read more about all the ways you benefit by being an Alumni Donor here.
The Spirit of Community Awards Luncheon is coming!
![24th Annual Spirit of Community Leadership Awards [TYPE]{HORIZ].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/782c4c_5eb9a2e1e426430d845f064c3b608c71~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_439,h_132,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/24th%20Annual%20Spirit%20of%20Community%20Leadership%20Awards%20%5BTYPE%5D%7BHORIZ%5D.png)
Scottsdale Leadership Announces
New Spirit of Community Award
Joining the prominent Scottsdale Leadership awards named after established and influential Scottsdale leaders such as Mayor Herb Drinkwater, Mayor Bill Jenkins, Assistant Fire Chief Frank Hodges and former president of Scottsdale Community College, Art DeCabooter, is the new
Frances Young Trailblazer Award.
The Frances Young Trailblazer Award is named after Frances Young, a Scottsdale pioneer and tireless advocate for minority rights. As a trailblazer and co-founder of Scottsdale Community Partners, Frances Young championed numerous community initiatives, including the Vista del Camino Community Center. Her Scottsdale contributions spanned over four decades, establishing essential social services, educational programs, and health initiatives for underserved communities.The significance of the new Frances Young Trailblazer Award is distinct in two important ways; one is that the award will recognize a leader who may be early in their leadership journey and may or may not hold a formal leadership title. The impact of their work in the Scottsdale community are in progress, as compared to tenured community leaders who have a long list of Scottsdale achievements under their belts. “Scottsdale Leadership is proud to announce this new opportunity for recognition in our community. The Frances Young Trailblazer Award empowers our next generation of leaders - the ones we need to watch for what’s yet to come” said Joanna Peyton, current Scottsdale Leadership Board President.The next distinction is that the award, with nominations open to all genders, is named after a Scottsdale woman who was historically significant to our community’s development. The idea of the Frances Young Trailblazer Award was proposed to Scottsdale Leadership by The Woman’s Collective, a non-profit organization in Scottdale with the mission of inspiring and elevating women leaders. Because the other Scottsdale Leadership awards are all named for men, the Women’s Collective is proud to have a memorable female role model as the inspiration for this award. Jona Davis, Chair of the Women’s Collective says, “By introducing The Frances Young Trailblazer in the Spirit of Community Awards, Scottsdale Leadership is demonstrating a formal recognition of hard work that women have contributed to the Scottsdale community. At same time, they are highlighting a powerful, in progress leadership stage of community building. The Women’s Collective is proud to sponsor the Scottsdale Leadership, Frances Young Trailblazer award”. The deadline to submit the nomination form is September 18th.
Nomination forms for ALL Spirit of Community Awards are below
Claudia Chavez
Class 30
Claudia is now the
Executive Director
of STARS
Way to go Claudia!
Aaron Howard
Class 38
Aaron has been named the Chair of Rising Young Professionals
Congratulations Aaron!
And now...
A word from Scottsdale Leadership's Cruise Directors:
Anne Travous and Kelly Laipply of Class 37
Back by Popular Demand !
Recently members of Class 37 went on a cruise together to Croatia! An amazing time was had by all! And YES, we are all pretty jealous!
They are now planning the Second Annual Scottsdale Leadership Vacation Adventure.
Anne and Kelly are going to get to the business of planning but they want some input from YOU.
If you were to go on a trip next summer with your amazing Scottsdale Leadership friends, would you prefer to go to Europe, or to the Caribbean?
Click below to vote!
Contact Anne with questions:
Class 37's World Travelers:
Joe Rusin, Jenn Stockhill, Erin Krivanek, Anne Travous, Kelly Laipply
Fiesta Bowl
Ticket Sales Opportunity
Scottsdale Leadership has teamed up with the Fiesta Bowl Organization to give you a special benefit. We are offering early access for you to secure your tickets before the general public to both the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Scottsdale Leadership has teamed up with the Fiesta Bowl Organization to give you a special benefit. We are offering early access for you to secure your tickets before the general public to both the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl. By purchasing today through Friday, August 16, you’ll enjoy reduced fees and priority for future years.
• Be a part of history as the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl hosts two highly-ranked teams in the first-ever College Football Playoff Quarterfinal! Ring in the New Year with us on December 31, 2024.
• The Guaranteed Rate Bowl provides a unique experience with a college football game played inside an MLB stadium in Bowl Season’s only Big Ten vs. Big 12 postseason matchup. We look forward to seeing you on December 26, 2024 at 3:30 p.m. MST.
In addition, by purchasing tickets to either game this year, you establish priority access for next season’s Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, which hosts a College Football Playoff Semifinal game on January 8, 2026.
Clink on the links below to take advantage of this special opportunity for the Scottsdale Leadership community. If you have any questions, please contact tickets@fiestabowl.org or call (480) 350-0911.
This month's edition of Branching Out is brought to you thanks to our community partner
