Nikole Babb
nbabb@cherryroad.com

Leadership Butler Class of 2025 kicked off their first class session last week on Wednesday, February 26 where they learned to dismantle the norms of leadership.

Leadership Butler hosts an adult and youth leadership program focused on developing community servant leaders through education and example. The program provides leaders with the tools and confidence to make their own organizations as well as Butler County a place where residents live well and laugh often.

This year’s class roster includes:

Emerald Ashlock – City of El Dorado

Nikole Babb – Butler County Times-Gazette

Sheterra Ball – Intrust Bank

Kate Bosserman – City of El Dorado

Buck Buchanan – City of Andover

Dr. Aidan Dunleavy – Butler Community College

Lexee Hughey – Sunlight Children’s Services

Derek Kling – City of El Dorado

Melanie McLemore – Butler Community College

John Schelske – Community National Bank & Trust

Becky Timberlake – Augusta Unified School District

On their first day participants were greeted by Leadership Butler’s Executive Director Tiya Tonn and Board Secretary Kristina Traina, welcoming them to the class. The session’s facilitator, Tina Kahn, of the Kansas Leadership Center Teaching Team, led the group in “When Everyone Leads” training. The training emphasized heavily on the concept that everyone can be a leader if one person steps up through example and empowers others while using powerful questions to dig deeper into challenging issues.

The team broke for lunch catered by Tony Yaghjian of Misfit Kitchen, who is also a Leadership Butler Alumni and Deputy Chief of the El Dorado Fire Department. The class will next meet in mid-March for a two-day retreat in Wichita at the Kansas Leadership Center in Wichita. They will meet each month until graduation in May where they will celebrate completion of the program and continue to foster the group project they choose to take on.