The second Rising Stars program in Seward County will begin this month with the goal of enhancing the leadership skills of young professionals.
The program is open to any working professional in Seward County from any industry.
The class is hosted by the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership and facilitated by Anita Foor, owner of Development412 LLC.
Foor works to equip people to effectively impact their vocations through meaningful trainings for schools, nonprofits and small businesses.
“The outcome is to develop people to better serve in their communities and all of the vocations they hold within them,” Foor said.
Foor graduated from Stuart High School and was involved in leadership roles in FFA at the state and national levels. She then taught agriculture classes, managed profesional development for students and teachers through the Nebraska Department of Education and developed trainings and resources for the SkillsUSA program.
Rising Stars participants will work through the 20 Tenets for skill development identified by Better Culture, plan and carry out a service project in Seward County, learn from local leaders and network with cohorts and other professionals.
“Getting to facilitate the Rising Stars program this year is heart-and-soul work for me,” Foor said. “I am both humbled and energized by the opportunity to equip this year’s participants to know, understand and maximize their leadership potential in Seward County.”
Harrison Helmer, membership director for the SCCDP, is a graduate of the first Rising Stars class in 2022-2023.
He said the main focus of the program was to develop culture within an organization.
Participants had the chance to tour businesses and organizations in the county to get a feel for their company culture and explore the topics they learned in the curriculum.
The site visits aligned with Seward County’s Pillars of Strength as identified in SCCDP’s vision statement: Agriculture, Arts and Culture, Business, Education, Entrepreneurship, Government, and Healthcare.
“We took visits to the Nebraska National Guard Museum, Red Path Gallery, Memorial Health Care Systems, the State Capitol, Beaver Hardware, BASF and Breeza Industrial,” Helmer said. “We got to have conversations with leaders, managers and CEOs and learn their leadership styles.”
The class also worked with Seward, Milford and Centennial public schools’ career fairs, which gave them the chance to discuss job preparedness, interview skills and career paths with high school students.
“It’s worth enrolling for the communication skills you build throughout, but more importantly the relationships you build with your classmates,” Helmer said.
Rising Stars classes meet from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the last Thursday of each month September through May.
For more information on the class, to cover the registration fee as a business sponsor or to enroll, contact the SCCDP at (402) 643-4189 or email jonathan@cultivatesewardcounty.com.
