Nineteen young professionals have joined the Anti-Defamation League – Mountain States Region’s 2014-2015 Robert B. Sturm Leadership Fellows Program.  The program year began with a half-day retreat at the Genesee Challenge Course in Golden, Colorado on September 7, 2014 at which the new Fellows had an opportunity to try out partner and group team-building activities on the low and high ropes courses with trained leaders from the Denver Parks and Recreation staff.

 

Sturm Fellow Michael Jenet, an author, entrepreneur and technology expert, reflected:

The Opening Leadership Retreat was incredible both from a group/leadership standpoint as well as a personal one.  It was a terrific way to meet the other Sturm Fellows and get to know each other since it allowed us so many opportunities to work together and as mini-teams.  It was also valuable personally for me in helping me overcome fears and created a sense of accomplishment in doing things I didn’t think I could be capable of doing.

 

This year’s Sturm Fellows class includes the following individuals, who were chosen through a competitive application process: Matthew Cron, Julie Greenwood, Derek Greeley, Emily Hungerford, Michael Jenet, Jane Keir, Brandon Knaster, Monica Kline, Matthew LeBauer, Andronik Mamayan, Sandra Mann, Ashleigh Miller, Michelle Nikolayevsky, JoyAnn Ruscha, Zach Silverman, Kelly Staufer, Blanca Trejo, Russell Walsh and Leorah Young. The chairs of this year’s Sturm Fellows Program are Jordan Linkow, Adam Ross and Sara Zessar, all graduates of the Program and members of the Mountain States ADL Board.

 

The Robert B. Sturm Leadership Fellows Program, part of the national ADL Glass Leadership Institute and formerly known locally as the “Partners Program,” runs each year from October-June and provides educational and social programming about the substantive issues of ADL’s work, giving participants the tools to become passionate civil rights leaders in the community. A highlight of the Program is the opportunity to attend ADL’s National Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, joining participants from all over the country to learn from nationally renowned speakers and leaders. The Sturm Fellows Program is supported by a generous endowment from philanthropist Robert B. Sturm.