Seven Naperville Park District Staff Members Graduate from Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Institute

Seven members of the Naperville Park District's staff recently completed the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Institute. On April 25 Park District staff and 13 other community leaders graduated from the five-month program, now in its eighth year.

Naperville Park District Leadership Institute graduates were:

• Becky Cooper, Safety Manager

• Beth Myers, Parks Specialist

• Susan Nance, Fort Hill Activity Center Manager

• Danielle Oleszkiewicz, Graphic Designer

• Maciej Rago, IT Specialist

• John Teper, Parks Specialist

• Terry Washington, Food and Beverage Operations Manager

A team of experienced business leaders and entrepreneurs guided the educational sessions which focused on the topics of ethics and values, goal setting, communication, teamwork, coaching, customer focus, business acumen, and strategic thinking. Additionally, guest panelists from the business community shared examples of the principles from their own experience and fielded questions from the participants.

Some of the key lessons learned were summarized in memorable quotes from the presentations. John Teper and Becky Cooper noted the following favorite quotes, respectively:

"The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention." - Rachel Naomi Remen

"The biggest risk is not taking any risk…in a world that's changing rapidly the only strategy guaranteed to fail is not taking risks." - Mark Zuckerberg