On September 22, 2022, after completing a one-year Leadership program, ten officers and supervisors with the Division of Parole Supervision (DPS) presented their projects to Parole Board Chair Rosalyn Cotton, Director Julie Micek, Assistant Director Ken Quinn, Legal Counsel Nicole Miller, and Statewide Operations Manager Sue Olson.
The course was led by Marianne Chance-Worthington, who is a consulting Leadership/Coaching specialist from ‘Work-Warrior Inc’. Marianne met with the ten officers and supervisors as a group and one-on-one throughout the year to help them define a project that they felt could benefit the agency and its clients, and to help them hone and plan their projects. The projects ranged from a peer-mentoring project to self-defense training.
Graduates of the Leadership Academy are: Parole Officer Amy Bethards, Parole Officer Cheryl Bicknase, Parole Officer Caitlin Cassidy, Parole Supervisor Tracy Felker, Parole Officer Jennifer Green, Parole Supervisor Blair Hofeldt, Parole Officer Oscar Lopez, Parole Officer Heather Schultze, Parole Officer Clayton Wells, and Parole Officer TylerAnn Zoubek.
Several projects have come to fruition and will be utilized by DPS officers and supervisors in their regular duties. DPS hopes to have another Leadership Academy in the future to offer this opportunity to more staff.