Listen First Montana

Carmen McSpadden’s involvement with Leadership Montana spans the entire 20 years of the organization’s history. She served on the organizing committee in 2003, graduated from the flagship program in 2006, and since then has served as a leadership trainer. Carmen is also the director of Leadership Institute at Montana State University. In this conversation with Chantel Schieffer, recorded in early...

The Leadership Montana Flagship Class of 2023 has graduated! In this episode, Chantel Schieffer hosts short interviews with nine members of the class as they approach the end of their first Leadership Montana journey.  Kelly Durbin-Williams, Greg Doyon, Lori St. Aubin, Christiana Nyquest, Kim Hayworth, Travis Yuzik, Robin Kelson, Matt Mandel, and Sara Urbanik each share why they chose to apply for...

This episode is a tribute to Dr. Gerald Evans, who passed away in January of 2023. When Leadership Montana was founded in 2003, Jerry served on the original organizing committee, and then as a member of the Board of Governors for ten years, before becoming lead trainer in 2014. There is not a single Leadership Montana class that has not experienced his impact and influence. The episode begins with...

LIVE from Butte, Montana! Kelly Heaton is the incoming CEO of Leadership Montana. In this first-ever Listen First Montana episode recorded with a live audience, Chantel Schieffer, outgoing CEO of Leadership Montana, interviews Kelly about her values, her leadership philosophy, and much more. Members of the live audience, including Leadership Montana staff and board members, also get a chance to as...

To celebrate Leadership Montana's 20 Year Anniversary, we're getting to know the Leadership Montana staff by asking each of them 20 Questions. For this episode, we're joined by Leadership Montana Development Director, Heather Collins. Heather shares why she loves fundraising for Leadership Montana, her deep connection to music, her leadership philosophy, and much more.

To celebrate Leadership Montana's 20 Year Anniversary, we're getting to know the Leadership Montana staff by asking each of them 20 Questions. For this episode, we're joined by Leadership Montana Gracious Space Director, Hatton Littman. Hatton shares what she loves about heading up Gracious Space facilitation and training for Leadership Montana, her deep connection to creative work, her leadership...

To celebrate Leadership Montana's 20 Year Anniversary, we're getting to know the Leadership Montana staff by asking each of them 20 Questions. For this episode, we're joined by Leadership Montana Youth Program Coordinator, Cassandra Cox. Cassandra shares why she is excited to help develop leadership skills for young Montanans, how she spends her free time in Forest Grove, Montana, her leadership p...

To celebrate Leadership Montana's 20 Year Anniversary, we're getting to know the Leadership Montana staff by asking each of them 20 Questions. For this episode, we're joined by Leadership Montana Member Experience Director, Casey Wolfe. Casey talks about what she values most in a friend, her volunteer work outside of Leadership Montana, why she loves coaching volleyball, her leadership philosophy,...

To celebrate Leadership Montana's 20 Year Anniversary, we're getting to know the Leadership Montana staff by asking each of them 20 Questions. For this episode, we're joined by Leadership Montana Vice President, Jen Davis. Jen shares what brings her hope, her pet peeve, her favorite music, her leadership philosophy, and much more.

To celebrate Leadership Montana's 20 Year Anniversary, we're asking each of our team members 20 Questions. To kick things off, we're joined by Leadership Montana Program Director, Anna Berg. Anna shares what brings her hope, what she does for fun, her favorite music, and much more.

For this 9th installment of our mini-series focused on Leadership Montana’s newest program, the Indigenous Immersion Initiative, we’re featuring a conversation recorded in January of 2023 in Arlee, MT, on Flathead Nation between Shelly Fyant, Velda Shelby, and Mary Stranahan. These three local leaders and graduates of Leadership Montana discuss exciting work happening to strengthen the community o...

This mini-series episode was recorded on the Flathead Nation and is made up of 3 parts. For part 1, Major Robinson interviews Dr. Joe McDonald, founder and former president of Salish and Kootenai College. For part 2, Major interviews Cinda Ironmaker, Public Health Specialist for the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, and participant in the III program. And finally, we turn the mic on Major to...

This mini-series episode was recorded on the Flathead Nation and is made up of 3 parts. For part 1, Major Robinson interviews Dr. Joe McDonald, founder and former president of Salish and Kootenai College. For part 2, Major interviews Cinda Ironmaker, Public Health Specialist for the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, and participant in the III program. And finally, we turn the mic on Major to...

For this 7th installment of our mini-series focused on Leadership Montana’s newest program, the Indigenous Immersion Initiative, we’re featuring a conversation recorded in January of 2023 on Flathead Nation between Nancy Schlepp of Ringling, MT, and Chantel Schieffer. Nancy shares her favorite lessons from the program so far, including the ideas that are deepening her feeling of connection to the...

For this 6th installment of our mini-series focused on Leadership Montana’s newest program, the Indigenous Immersion Initiative, we’re featuring a conversation recorded in September 2022 on the Northern Cheyenne Nation between Samuel Enemy Hunter and Juanita Vero. Samuel talks about the history and culture of the Crow Tribe, Juanita asks Samuel about relationships between tribes in Montana, and Sa...

For this 5th installment of our mini-series focused on Leadership Montana’s newest program, the Indigenous Immersion Initiative, we’re featuring a conversation recorded in September 2022 on the Northern Cheyenne Nation between Sheri Jarvis of Virginia City, and Tony Brockman of Kalispell.  Sheri and Tony discuss Tony’s recent application for membership in the Crow Tribe, Sheri’s observations of th...

For this 4th installment of our mini-series focused on Leadership Montana’s newest program, the Indigenous Immersion Initiative, we’re joined by Jim Swan of Rocky Boy, and Adrienne Hines of Helena. Jim and Adrienne discuss why they chose to join the program, what has surprised them from the program so far, and how Adrienne plans to take what she is learning back to her local community and workplac...

For episode 3 of our Mini-Series, we’re featuring a car ride conversation between two participants in Leadership Montana’s Indigenous Immersion Initiative, Emily Yost of Livingston and Chris Warden of Missoula. Emily and Chris talk about why they want to learn more about Indigenous communities and culture in Montana, what they learned during their visit to Northern Cheyenne Nation, and how they ar...

For Episode 2 of our mini-series about Leadership Montana’s newest program, the Indigenous Immersion Initiative, we’re featuring a conversation between Leadership Montana President and CEO, Chantel Schieffer, and Chair of Leadership Montana’s Indigenous Advisory Council, Major Robinson.  Major describes the feeling of returning to his home, the Northern Cheyenne Nation, with this group of Leadersh...

Introducing a new Listen First Montana mini-series: the Indigenous Immersion Initiative. Join the first cohort of Leadership Montana's newest program as they visit Tribal Nations and communities across Montana to learn about the unique and vibrant indigenous cultures in Montana.  We'll give listeners an inside look at how program participants are learning and reflecting on the people, opportunitie...

To celebrate Leadership Montana's 20-year anniversary, we're bringing you a special episode, featuring stories about the founding of Leadership Montana.  We'll hear from four leaders who were a part of that process back in the early 2000s: Bruce Wittenberg, founding CEO of Leadership Montana, Debbie Vandeberg, member of the organizing committee and graduate of the first Leadership Montana Class, M...

This episode features John Morrison, former State Auditor and current member of Leadership Montana’s Indigenous Immersion Initiative. John talks about his work as State Auditor, his experience in the Indigenous Immersion Initiative, and his work on Healthy Montana Kids.  John co-authored the book Mavericks: The Lives, and Battles of Montana’s Political Legends.  He shares a few highlights and less...

In this episode, Chantel speaks with Leadership Montana Board Members Barb Cestero of Bozeman, Cami Skinner of Sidney, and Ariel Overstreet-Adkins of Billings.  This group discusses the transfer of wealth in Montana, the importance of deepening our understanding of agriculture in Montana, and the preservation of wild spaces in our state.  They also discuss how they make time for themselves and the...

In this episode, Chantel speaks with Leadership Montana Board Member and Superintendent of Glendive Public Schools, Stephen Shreibeis. Stephen talks about his experience leading a school district through significant challenges and divisiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic, how love shapes his leadership style, and where his passion for servant leadership comes from. Stephen also describes a tragic...

In this episode, Chantel speaks with Leadership Montana Board Members Julie Jenkinson, Darrell Hirsch, and Aaron Pratt.  This group of leaders discuss the sense of purpose they each find in parenting, their love for their respective homes in Montana, and why they chose to serve Leadership Montana through service on the Board of Governors.  They also discuss the future of Leadership Montana, what “...