The Leading Edge: Hope - a message from Chantel Schieffer
Burnout
June 30, 2022
Always Learning
August 31, 2022

A field full of round bales of hay as far as the eyes can see near Highwood, Montana.

Commitment

Message from President/CEO Chantel Schieffer

Welcome to a new year at Leadership Montana! Our fiscal year kicked off this month with some deep reflecting, planning, learning, and connecting. We crossed the state several different ways to advance our mission of building a better Montana.

Our first stop was to Blackfeet Nation for the third session of our Indigenous Immersion Initiative where our participants learned more in three days that I can put into words here. We saw the true power of immersion come full circle as one participant said “I arrived wanting to leave, and I am leaving wanting to stay.” The impact of this program is beyond words, because of the commitment from each of our participants.

Next up in Helena, we gathered our full team – staff, Board, and trainers – for two days of connecting, learning, and dreaming. Our annual planning retreat gave us an opportunity to recalibrate our strategic plan while understanding one another in meaningful ways. I am personally grateful for everyone who says “Yes!” to this invitation and who commit to working in collaboration with our whole team to make possible what often seems impossible.

We ended the month in Paradise Valley where we hosted two separate groups of Montana leaders for unique workshops. Our second annual Leadership Montana for Legislators event built on the work we started last year by convening a bipartisan group of elected leaders to deeply discuss ways to work better together. We left with a commitment to extend this effort through the 2023 legislative session and beyond.

For the first time, we brought together a group of Indigenous leaders representing all areas of our state for three days of connection and learning together. In the stunning setting of the greater Yellowstone area, traditional lands of many Montana tribes, we watched as strangers became family in the power of the Leadership Montana container.

July was a month that brought incredible deepening to our work. With deeper connections to the people and places of our state, our commitment to our mission is clear. We are here to build a better Montana for all of us, and we are on the right track because of you and your commitment to Leadership Montana.

Be well and lead well,

Chantel M. Schieffer
President & CEO
Class of 2010, Masters 2019