At JB Media, we recognize that leadership is something that must be continually practiced and improved. Like a muscle that must be exercised to become strengthened, leadership development inside and outside the office is of crucial importance to the ongoing development and improvement of our team. It’s been about a year since we reflected on leadership with Founder Justin Belleme’s “Leaders Building Leaders” blog post. Since then, we have continued to expand the skills and experience of our team. Most recently, two of our team members, JB Media Owner & Founder Justin Belleme and Director of Marketing & Operations Adrianne Gordon, graduated from well-regarded leadership programs: Leadership North Carolina and Leadership Asheville, respectively.
Justin graduated from Leadership North Carolina (LNC) on May 15 alongside fifty-four civic and community leaders from across the state. During the program, Justin and his cohort traveled across North Carolina to learn more about the state’s social, geographic and economic diversity. The goal of this eight month leadership-intensive program? Informing, developing, and engaging committed leaders like Justin by broadening their understanding of and involvement in issues and opportunities facing North Carolina.
About his time with LNC, Justin shares, “It has been such as honor and an amazing experience to be part of the LNC 22 class. I’ve been so impressed with the diverse group of upcoming and seasoned leaders who made up this year’s class.”
Justin will continue his involvement with LNC by joining the planning committee for the LNCXXIII Environmental session taking place in Asheville next April. For more on Justin’s LNC experience and what’s in store for the 2016 class, check out our press release.
Closer to home, Adrianne completed Leadership Asheville whose mission is to “enhance community leadership by developing, connecting, and mobilizing citizens throughout the region.” She joined 49 Asheville-area leaders who, over the course of nine months, learned about the challenges and resources facing the City in education, economic development, diversity, government and infrastructure. The LA33 class also formed small groups and partnered with area non-profits for projects to support their missions. Adrianne’s group created a job re-entry curriculum including a work experience component for the Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP). We are proud to say that Adrianne is the fourth JB Media Group employee to graduate from Leadership Asheville! Our previous graduates were Justin Belleme LA30, Sarah Benoit LA31, and Leah Quintal LA32.
Leadership programs like these are just one of the ways we support the development of the JB Media team individually and collectively. Of course we often focus on industry specific skills and information to help us stay up-to-date for our clients and students. When you love what you do, it’s hard to stop learning about it!
Congratulations to Justin and Adrianne as well as their Leadership NC and Leadership Asheville classmates. Lead on!
