Leadership Tuscarawas

08/24/2026

🍻 Happy Hour is back!!

Come hang out with the Leadership Tuscarawas community for an evening of good drinks, great conversation, and even better connections.

LT alumni, current class members, future applicants, friends — everyone is welcome!

📍 Pilot Brewhouse
📅 September 8th | 4:30–6:30 PM

Tag someone who should join you! ⬇️

08/18/2026

The opening retreat for the 2026–2027 Leadership Tuscarawas class is officially in the books. This is our 24th class!!

We kicked off an exciting new program year August 13–14 at Mohican Lodge & Conference Center with an outstanding group of emerging and established community leaders.

A special thank-you to Carol Mace from Kent State Tuscarawas and our expert facilitators—Faith Sheaffer-Polen, Anne Bruno, and Matt Johnson—for helping launch the year with an engaging, meaningful, and inspiring opening program. We are especially excited to introduce a new programmatic model for Leadership Tuscarawas this year.

The 2026–2027 Leadership Tuscarawas model focuses on developing leaders prepared to strengthen Tuscarawas County through courageous leadership, collaboration, and community engagement. Inspired by Brené Brown’s book, "Dare to Lead" (2018), the program integrates evidence-based leadership practices with real-world community experiences.

Over the next ten months, participants will build the mindset, skills, and relationships needed to lead effectively within their organizations and across the community. The principles of courageous leadership will serve as a common thread throughout the program year.

At the heart of the experience is the LEAD TUSC framework:

L — Learn Yourself
E — Engage With Courage
A — Act on Values
D — Develop Trust
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T — Think Strategically
U — Unite Community
S — Service Beyond Self
C — Create Impact

Each program module throughout the year intentionally connects to one or more elements of this framework, reflecting a core belief of Leadership Tuscarawas: effective community leadership begins with personal growth and culminates in collective impact.

We are looking forward to an incredible year of learning, connection, leadership development, and service to Tuscarawas County!

08/14/2026

V2.0 c2026-2027 lass photo where everyone can be seen!!

08/13/2026

08/13/2026

The 24th Leadership Tuscarawas class is off to a great start at Mohican Lodge and Conference Center. This is another record year for enrollment in the program. A beautiful sunny day at a great venue.

We are introducing a new curricular model for the program: LEAD-TUSC, based on Brene' Brown's landmark book, Dare to Lead.

L Learn Yourself
E Engage With Courage
A Act on Values
D Develop Trust
--------
T Think Strategically
U Unite Community
S Service Beyond Self
C Create Impact

More on the LEAD-TUSC model in a later post. Stay tuned!!

08/11/2026

Leadership Tuscarawas Community Project Opportunity

Leadership Tusc invites you to consider sponsoring a community project for our 2026-2027 Leadership Tuscarawas class.

Each year we offer several class projects that our participants can select from (we have 33 participants this year). If you would like to sponsor a project, you, or your designee, as the sponsor, will direct the work of the project team from October to May. Your responsibility is to identify a meaningful project for your organization, mentor the team through the development of the project, provide resources if needed and report out at the May 2027 graduation ceremony.

As a project sponsor you will: (1) Present your project idea the morning of the October 13, 2026 (8:30 to 12 noon apx.). During this time, you will present your project to the class, and they will self-select the project of their choice following the presentations; (2) Select a meaningful and manageable project that you have always wanted to get to, but for whatever reason just could not; (3) Meet with your project team throughout the duration of the project. This is usually only 2-3 times per month for an hour or so; (4) Help your project team develop the project. (5) Help your team with the presentation of the project outcomes at the May 4, 2027 graduation ceremony.

If you are interested in proposing a project, please request a Project RFP form by emailing Bill Beisel ([email protected]). After completing the form, return as soon as possible, but no later than September 14. If selected, we will reconfirm more specific times for your presentation and as well as other details as we get closer to the October class meeting. Note that not all projects can be selected, depending on the number of submissions.

After class participants select their project of interest, project sponsors will meet with their team that morning to get the process going.

Finally, if you know of an organization or colleague that might be interested in sponsoring a project, please feel free to forward this post.

08/10/2026

2026 COMMUNITY BUS TOUR REGISTRATION OPEN

Annual community bus tour hosted by Leadership Tuscarawas in partnership with Kent State University at Tuscarawas Business and Community Services is scheduled for Tuesday September 8, 2026.

This is an excellent opportunity to tour the county and visit places you might not have heard of or have ever been to. The itinerary for the day includes stops at a local farm, a manufacturing company, local museum, and other interesting locations.

If you or a colleague are new to the community, please join us for an informative and stimulating tour of Tuscarawas County. The tour departs Kent State Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center parking lot at 7:30 a.m. sharp and returns at 5:00 p.m.

Note: No open toed shoes. Dress is business casual. Wear comfortable shoes! You will be on/off the bus; you will be in areas that may include manure and petroleum-based products.

Fee is $50 per person and includes lunch. There is a Lunch Only option which costs $25.

ONLINE REGISTRATIONS ONLY. Click link below, https://conted.tusc.kent.edu/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp?&course=26FATRNG166B&Publish=ANYWAY

Current class members do not need to register. All registrations will be confirmed by email.

05/13/2026

May 12, 2026. Leadership Tuscarawas celebrated the graduation of the largest class in the program’s history on a beautiful spring evening. Thirty-five participants successfully completed the 10-month leadership development program and were presented with framed certificates during a ceremony held at the Performing Arts Center on the campus of Kent State University at Tuscarawas.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Sarah Andreas presented a capstone lesson on "The Two Sides of Leadership Success" and Wendy Zucal presented her always popular session on "Wendy's Top 10 Lessons for Success". Closing out the programming for the day, Board President Ethan Zucal and Board member Michele Spring-Milburn welcomed the graduating class to the Alumni group.

The evening ceremony featured the presentation of the prestigious annual Alumni Award of Excellence to Michelle Campbell. The award was presented by her husband, Sheriff Orvis Campbell, and Leadership Tuscarawas board member Michele Spring-Milburn.

Graduates showcased the impact of their year-long collaborative projects through presentations on seven community initiatives:

* American Red Cross — Community Awareness and Visibility Project
* TuscBDD — Building an Inclusive Community Accessibility Project
* Rainbow Connection — Financial Literacy Project
* Tuscarawas County Health Department — Newcomerstown Blessing Box Initiative
* TuscLands — Tuscarawas County Green Space Plans
* Empower TUSC — Membership Engagement Project
* Kent State Tuscarawas Engineering Program — Enrollment Management Project

The ceremony concluded with the presentation of certificates and remarks from Dr. Brad Bielski, Dean and Chief Academic Officer at Kent State University at Tuscarawas.

Graduating Class Members include:

Jami Bailey, City of New Philadelphia; Daniel Bias, The Commercial & Savings Bank; Anne Bruno, Bruno Consulting, LLC; Andrew Burrell, The Timken Company; Emma Triplett, Tuscarawas County Health Department; Becky Clough, Mako's Market; Michael Cornell, Groovfold, Inc.; Rachel Dunfee, Common Pleas Court, Tuscarawas County; Chris Edwards, SIMONA Boltaron; Kurtis Eisermann, Kent State University at Tuscarawas; Samantha (Sam) Farmery, Tuscarawas County BDD; Bobbi Jo Gadfield, First Federal Community Bank; Nicole Gardner, DoverPhila Federal Credit Union; Jessica Garren, First National Bank of Dennison; Alicia Hall, TuscoMFG; Kris Howell, Philosophy of Pie; Richard (Chuck) Leffler, R&J Cylinder and Machine; John Lewis, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District; Audrey Mattevi, Pageantry Innovations, LLC; Brandon Meinke, Dover Chemical; Caitlin McCaslin, Allied Machine & Engineering; Kelsey McConaha, DoverPhila Federal Credit Union; Catherine (Cathie) McCulloch, First Federal Community Bank; Madison Moore, CHW, Tuscarawas County Senior Center; Rose Paul, Buckeye Career Center; Christopher (Chris) Pleska, The Commercial & Savings Bank; Christine Quickel, Tuscarawas County Convention & Visitors Bureau; Trista Recchiuti, Baltic State Bank; Christina (Tina) Romell, Tuscarawas County Probate and Juvenile Court; Monica Roush, Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital; Dylan Sayre, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District; Aleisha Stout, Stark Tuscarawas Workforce Development Board; Tonya Thomas, ALCO Services, LLC; Andrea Tyson, East Central Ohio Educational Service Center; and Erin Wright, Spicer Group.

05/12/2026