Texas Border Business
Leadership Mid-Valley held a graduation ceremony for Class XIII on Thursday, May 24 at Valley Nature Center in Weslaco. The program featured keynote speaker Scott Vaughan, president of Burton Companies and class member Patrick Gonzalez, who was elected by fellow classmates as class speaker. With this year’s class, the Leadership Mid Valley program has graduated 180 students.
Leadership Mid Valley, sponsored by the Weslaco Chamber of Commerce, is a program which seeks to identify and motivate emerging leaders and develop their potential for community leadership by exposing them to the realities, opportunities, and challenges of the community.
Monthly field trips were taken by the students which allowed them to see firsthand how Mid-Valley businesses, agencies, and government impact the community. Agriculture, healthcare, and local media are among the areas visited by the LMV class. This year’s class was able to visit the state capitol in February as part of their government lesson where they heard from several state leaders and legislators.
Class member Mel Escamilla, Knapp Community Care Foundation, is no stranger to the Mid Valley but was able to see and learn so many new aspects that made her realize the dynamics of Weslaco and its neighbor cities Mercedes and Donna.
“Mid-Valley Leadership allowed me to get know the community on a level I had not experienced, even though I have worked in this area for almost 5 years,” remarked Escamilla. “Aside from forming lifelong friendships with my fellow leaders that participated in the class, meeting the community leaders that give their all each and every day helped me to appreciate this amazing community.”
Escamilla, along with four other classmates, will go on to serve on the Leadership Mid Valley program committee, which creates, manages and schedules each monthly session for the following class. Every Leadership class provides five members to serve on the program and steering committee for a three-year term. Next year’s program committee also includes Patrick Gonzalez, WoodmenLife; Maricruz Hinojosa, South Texas College; Raquel Limas, Con Cariño Primary Home Care and Melissa Saldivar, Department of Veteran Affairs. Frank Davila, Lone Star National Bank, will serve as alternate.
“It is my hope that I can inspire, empower and guide other leadership in the Mid-Valley,” Escamilla adds.
As part of the Leadership Mid Valley program, class members are assigned a project based on their perspective on the needs of the Mid Valley area. The class decided to install a butterfly garden at Horizon Montessori II in Weslaco, which entailed planting specific plants and flowers that attract butterflies. In addition, the class spruced up the playground by painting benches and a picnic table. This year’s Leadership class organized a wine and cheese fundraiser in April for their project as well as the class trip to Austin.
Leadership Mid Valley will be accepting applications for the 2018 – 2019 year in July. For more information, call Doug Croft at the Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce at 956-968-2102.
