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A Night to Remember!

This Saturday night was a fantastic last event for the Summer Leadership Program IV. Over 50 participants and friends spent the evening hanging out around Lake Morton – good food (Jimbo’s BBQ) and good company – what more could you want?! Todd Baylis and Sarah Avest hosted our “SLP-style House party” which included corn hole, [...]

“As we go on we remember all the times w...

The day has finally come to celebrate the conclusion of the Summer Leadership Program IV. It has been a fantastic summer and we definitely went out with a bang. Our Awards Luncheon was held at Publix Super Markets Corporate Headquarters, where we were joined by supervisors, friends, SLP speakers, and LEDC members. Publix Lake Miriam’s [...]

Museum, Movies, and Munnville

Who knew so much art and history existed in Lakeland? This week participants had the opportunity to learn tons about their city, from political advice to middle school curators to Elvis Presley concerts. Summer Leadership Program week 7 Downtown Lakeland & The Arts is sure to be a favorite tour day for many SLPers. We [...]

The Secret to Successful Bowling

This past Saturday night Ashley and I took on the Summer Leadership Program’s finest bowlers… and lost. After a lot of smack talk the week leading up to Saturday, the SLP coordinators did not score as high as originally planned- however we blame this lapse of talent on the secret SLP talisman: Mike’s bear (who [...]

Marketing, Music & Media!

We are past the half-way point of the Summer Leadership Program and it has been quite an adventure! From leadership training to climbing playgrounds to learning about bio-fuels in Polk County, each week is an education in itself. This was especially true for SLP Week 5 with Local Communications. Our time with various marketing, music, [...]

Life with Croakies

Dusten Pulido Arguably the most committed Gator fan around, Dusten Pulido is one of our 2011 Summer Leadership Program participants who does not go anywhere without his GATOR Croakies! He is an intern at Publix this summer in their Real Estate department. Dusten has learned a ton about Lakeland this summer and plans on relocating [...]

Lil Wayne & MidFlorida?

So, here’s your trivia question of the week… Q: What do Lil Wayne and MidFlorida have in common? A: Coady Cheek Did you know that Lil Wayne’s favorite color is red? It’s probably Coady’s too, since he is Lil Wayne’s biggest fan… On a somewhat related note, Coady is a participant in the 2011 Summer [...]

Civil Engineer and Super-Mom!

 Angie Carbone Angie is a participant in the 2011 Summer Leadership Program. She recently began her position as a public works engineer at the City of Lakeland. Angie has a 1 year old son that likes to keep her busy, but she always leaves  enough time to come hang out with the SLP crew [...]

Biofuels, lottery tickets, and taste tes...

Wow…SLP Week 3 was a whirlwind of high-technology tours! We started the day out at Interstate Commerce Park with community leadership speaker, Tim Rice of Trinity Presbyterian Church. Tim encouraged participants to become “rooted” and committed to their city. He also reflected on D-Day and, as Jon Salm put it, “the amazing power of one [...]

LRMC’s next CEO?

Jesse Dang Jesse is a participant in the 2011 Summer Leadership Program. He is currently interning with the administration at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Jesse “thinks SLP is worth the commute” from Tampa, but hopefully we’ll be able to make him consider Lakeland as a future residence by the end of the summer! Name: Jesse [...]

“oh kay kay kayyyy”

Kayla Wilson Kayla is a 2011 participant in the Summer Leadership Program. A Lakeland native, she traveled to a few universities (UCF, FSU, UF) before ending up back in Lakeland with a degree in marketing and position at CenterState Bank. Kayla is hilarious and always full of energy – so fun to have in the [...]

Wicked dancing and leadership developmen...

Audrey Innella Audrey is one of the Summer Leadership Program’s 2011 participants. She is completing a masters program at the University of Central Florida and putting her studies to practice in Assessment Services at the City of Lakeland. Don’t let that pouty face fool you – Audrey is a very talented dancer & rocked that [...]

Living Irony – from Scranton to Lakeland...

Jason Godish Jason is one of the Summer Leadership Program’s 2011 participants. He has a degree in Computer Information Systems and puts it to good use at Qgiv, an online company that works “to make accepting online, mobile and web donations easier.” Even though he’s a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania don’t let that fool you [...]

What do Led Zeppelin and My Cousin Vinny...

Ron Gleydura That’s right – an SLP participant! Ron is employed at Southern Wine & Spirits, where he works as a warehouse associate. He has won their MVP award multiple times over the past year (but the real question is will he win a prize at the SLP awards luncheon?) We are excited to get [...]

Parks and Landmarks: a tour of Lakeland’...

The Summer Leadership Program started off week two by “going green.” Everyone learned something this Thursday during our tour of Lakeland’s most popular natural and architectural sites. We started off the morning in the Hollis Room at Florida Southern College and heard from Lakeland’s very own entrepreneurial leadership expert, Bill Mutz of Lakeland Automall. He [...]

Shh… future secret service agent?

Raj Beesabathini Raj is one of the Summer Leadership Program’s 2011 participants. Raj traveled all the way to Lakeland from India (and Kansas ) to work as a software developer for Qgiv. Although Raj says he would like “dance” as his superhero talent, with moves like the one pictured above we think he already has [...]

“Flamingo” West

Meghan West Meghan is one of the Summer Leadership Program’s 2011 participants. She is the office manager at Land South Group, a local company specializing in “opportunistic investment.” We look forward to getting to know Meghan better – her charismatic energy is already obvious within the first weeks of SLP. Name, nickname? Meghan, Meggie Birthplace?...

Laura Pausini in Lakeland?????

Ruth Cedeno Ruth is one of the Summer Leadership Program’s 2011 participants. She recently began working for MidFlorida in their Operations department as an Associate Manager. With a bachelors degree in Finance we hope Ruth will keep our program’s budget on track! Name, nickname? Ruth, Ruthie, Ruthmerita, China. Birthplace? Guayaquil, Ecuador What store could you [...]

Rockets at Peterson Park?

The Summer Leadership Program had our first official day program this week – Kickoff and Teambuilding at Curtis Peterson Park. Participants had the chance to hear from Lakeland leaders Jeff Chamberlain and Gow Fields. Jeff, the Lakeland Economic Development Council‘s chair, explained the work of the LEDC and its connection to young professionals. He reiterated [...]

Ready for 8 weeks of Summer Fun

Summer Leadership Program IV kicks off with Orientation, May 26 Program History: Y Lakeland launched an 8-week (June-July) Summer Leadership Program for interns and new hires in the summer of 2008. The goal of the program is twofold: 1) to connect the interns and new hires to each other 2) To showcase all the activities [...]