Ready To Learn,
WORDS: Lela Rast Hartsaw
Community leader and 30-year Manatee County resident,
Misty Servia, sat down with NextGen writer, Lela Rast
Hartsaw to tell us more about what Leadership Manatee
is - and what the organization is doing for our community.
Lela: Thank you for taking the time from your busy day as
a community planner with King Engineering to have this
conversation.
Misty: Of course, as a Leadership Manatee alumna, I am
passionate about Leadership Manatee and welcome any
opportunity to endorse the program.
Lela: Pretend I’ve never heard of Leadership Manatee, how
would you describe it?
Misty: Leadership Manatee is a program designed to expose
current and future leaders to all aspects of Manatee County.
There is an annual application process, and each year, a class
of 40-45 candidates are hand-selected to participate. The sevenmonth
program includes nine comprehensive days of touring our
community with a focus on topics such as Agriculture, Health Care,
and Education. The goal is to introduce community leaders to the
problems and opportunities that face our county. It is a fantastic
program for promoting conversation on timely topics, and inspiring
leaders to pursue civic responsibilities and leadership roles.
Lela: Sounds fascinating. The tours sound like a field trip. Tell
me about that.
Misty: Yes! On these outings, participants enjoy the comfort of
a standard charter bus. However, on “Education Day,” the day
I facilitate, our transportation for the day is literally a Manatee
County School District yellow school bus. During “Education
Day” we always include public, private, and charter schools on
the tour. We have a panel of District leadership interact with the
class and answer questions. During our tour, we try to highlight
great things happening in a 21st century classroom, in addition
to the challenges like poverty, and everything in between. As you
know, all of this affects the education of our children.
Lela: Who typically applies to participate in the Leadership
Manatee program?
Misty: A good candidate for this program is someone who shows
commitment, motivation, and interest in serving our community.
We look for individuals who are active in the community, and
likely to use their knowledge and skills to help with the long-term
success of Manatee County. Usually candidates are already
leaders (or aspiring leaders) in their business or organization and
have an interest in assuming leadership roles in the community.
Lela: You once applied and were selected to participate. When
was that?
Misty: I was honored to be a member of the Class of 2009-2010.
I have been active with Leadership Manatee now for almost a
decade and am currently on the Board of Governors.
Lela: How long has Leadership Manatee existed and how did
it start?
Misty: The first class was in 1983 through a collaboration
between the Manatee Chamber of Commerce and the Bradenton
66