Secretary Bialecki

 delivered the commencement address at last week’s fifth annual commencement exercises for the Leadership SouthCoast program. The 23 graduates joined more than 100 alumni of the leadership training venture who have completed the program since its founding in 2004.
   

Secretary Bialecki’s remarks focused on “the importance of collaboration” by the region’s leaders as they work towards implementing positive improvements in their individual communities and the region as a whole.
   

“We have a collective interest in improving the quality of leadership in the region,” Mr. Bialecki told the graduates, who came together from both the private and public sector to take part in the grassroots leadership program over the past 10 months.
   

“Regional collaboration, with the support of the state, (is) the right answer for solving the challenges of the SouthCoast,” he said, urging the class to focus their “innovative talents on the real challenges all around us.”
   

Both he and Gov. Deval Patrick believe the “innovative economy” can be one of the keys to the state’s success, noting that success will come “in not just high tech and biotech, but in advanced manufacturing and small business entrepreneurship” in coming years.
   

New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang also said the region depends on “engaged, active citizens in our communities” to lead the march to progress, urging the graduates to stay involved in the “shadow government” that helps elected officials deal with the region’s biggest problems.
   

The students’ willingness to take on some of the SouthCoast’s most serious issues was demonstrated by the class projects undertaken this year, said Leadership SouthCoast Executive Director Michael Metzler. Several groups of students
   

LSC "Miles for SMILES" Team

worked with the SMILES mentoring program to combat the region’s high dropout rate; others undertook a school curriculum improvement project, a career goals development program for students, and worked to resurrect the Treatment on Demand program, he noted.
   

“It’s been an incredible pleasure to work with these students,” Mr. Metzler said of his first year at the helm of the leadership program.
   

“I think I’ve learned more from you than you learned from the experts we’ve heard over the past 10 months,” the director told the graduates before the diplomas were handed out.
   

Leadership SouthCoast also recognized retiring BankFive President Thomas Lyons
   

Thomas Lyons being honored by Mike Metzler

as an honorary graduate in recognition of his five years of support for the program. A graduate of Leadership Rhode Island, Lyons was one of the founders of Leadership SouthCoast and sent bank employees to participate in the class each year, Metzler noted.
   

“Leadership is not something I think you can get from a book; it has to be learned,” Lyons said. Talking about his experiences with Leadership Rhode Island and the U.S. Navy, Lyons advised the graduates that “persistence pays off, and people will respect what you do” if you exhibit a willingness to work hard and achieve your goals.
   

He said he was glad to support the program because he believes the graduates will help improve the quality of life in the region. “The South Coast has a strong bench of current and future leaders” to help accomplish that goal, he suggested.
   

Leadership SouthCoast is now recruiting students for the Class of 2011. For more information on the program, application forms, and corporate sponsorship opportunities, visit www.leadershipsouthcoast.org.
   

Dan DeCosta receiving diploma

 

Catherine Bourassa receiving diploma

   

GRADUATES 

• Michael W. Amaral: Dartmouth, director of environmental services, Southcoast Hospitals Group
• Christina Bascom: Marion
•  Catherine Bourassa: Dartmouth, director of programs and services, YWCA
•  Robin L. Cabral: New Bedford, director of development, Sisters of Mercy Northeast Community
•  Claire D. Carreiro: Fall River, vice president/regional manager, BankFive
•  Kathleen Christianson: Dartmouth, student, masters in public policy, UMD
•  Mary Cochrane: Fall River, Clinical Director, Transition House, Steppingstone Incorporated
•  Daniel J. DeCosta: Dartmouth, network administrator, Citizens-Union Savings Bank
•  Deidre L. Donaldson: director, Fernandes Center for Children and Families, St. Anne’s Hospital
• Nancy S. Fernandes: New Bedford, avp/credit manager, Citizens-Union Savings Bank
•  Katje N. Fuson: East Providence, director of Fall River operations for SMILES
•  Michaela Gagne: Fall River, teacher, St. Vincent’s Home
• Edward Hill: Swansea, program coordinator, People Inc.
•  Angela Johnston: New Bedford, economic development specialist, New Bedford Economic Development Council
• Michelle Keith, Esq.: Dartmouth 
• Robin L. Maccini: Dartmouth, executive vice president, Greater New Bedford Association of Realtors
•  Linnea Michel, Esq.l: Dartmouth, supervisor, Community Development Clinic, UMass School of Law
•  Kim M. Parkinson: North Attleboro, community relations manager, Bank of America
•  Thomas Paine: Fall River, student, masters in public policy, UMD
• Cynthia A. Poyant: Swansea, program coordinator, Child & Family Services
•  Kelly Rebeiro: Fairhaven, Director, Treatment on Demand 
• Rosemarie Soares: New Bedford, account executive, Sylvia & Company Insurance Agency, Inc.
•  Desa Van Laarhoven: Lakeville, executive director, Marion Institute
   

   

By ROBERT BARBOZA

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

June 27, 2010 12:00 AM

www.SouthCoastToday.com

This is the sixth class going through the 10-month leadership academy, noted LSC Executive Director Michael Metzler, a former hospital executive who helped found the grassroots leadership development program in 2004.

“With this year’s class, it will be about 125 graduates having gone through the program,” he said. “It seems the time has come to put together some kind of alumni group.”

The alumni group could help graduates continue to grow their leadership skills by organizing lectures and seminars — a post-graduate training institute, he called it — and continue to nurture the networking opportunities that LSC offers, Metzler suggested at a recent organizational meeting attended by almost a dozen alumni and current class members.

Metzler also sees an active alumni association as a great way to spread the word about the leadership forum, which accepts applicants from business and industry, academics and social service agencies, government and the private sector to form a class of 20-25 students each fall.

Though the program has been running for six years, many business and private sector employers still don’t know about the program, and the benefits it offers employees who take part, he said. Some scholarship funds are available to help small businesses and non-profits who can’t afford the entire $2,050 tuition, he noted.

Four members of this year’s class of 23 students are being supported in part by scholarship donations from a handful of firms and individuals who have recognized the benefits of the region “growing” a core of future leaders, Metzler said.

Applicants for the next leadership academy are now being sought, with an explanation of the program, a tentative 2011 class schedule, and application forms now available on the new LSC website, wwwleadershipsouthcoast.com.

 Left to right: Dr. Jodie Drapal Kluver, Dr. Wendy Haynes, Athena Mota, Dr. Deniz Leuenberger and Dr. George Serra.

“I am so humbled to receive this,” an emotional Ms. Mota said at the conclusion of a ceremony held in the Dunn Conference Suites. “I’ve had so many opportunities from this program.”

She credited her professors and classmates for the success she’s had at BSC.

Ms. Mota has worked for nearly a decade in the field of nonprofit administration cultivating and sustaining efforts in public relations, marketing and public policy.

She is director of advocacy and communications for the YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts. In this role she is responsible for marketing, public education, media and community efforts. Ms. Mota serves as an Executive Committee member on the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Alumni Board of Directors. She is the immediate past Vice-Chair of the YWCA New England Region Board of Directors.

Through her involvement in the MPA program, she worked on a funding request that secured a $29,000 grant for the Chorus of Westerly. She is also a graduate of the Leadership Southcoast Program, which educates and motives participants to take action to benefit their community.

“She is a remarkable student and, even more so, an amazing person when it comes to being involved in the community,” said Ms. Mota’s adviser, Jodie Drapal Kluver, assistant professor of political science.

The dinner capped off a successful year for the MPA program. The keynote speaker was John Sears, a longtime public servant, former Massachusetts state legislator and candidate for governor against Michael Dukakis. His speech focused on the importance of caring for others and the fleeting nature of life.

The scholarship will help defray the cost of Ms. Mota’s continued participation in the MPA program. It was awarded by last year’s recipient, Joan Bryant. In her introduction, she referenced Ms. Mota’s essay, a necessary component of the scholarship application, where she stated one of her goals as “leaving the world a better place.”

“I think she is off to a great start,” Ms. Bryant said.

Ms. Mota lives in New Bedford with her husband, Gregory M. Westwater Mota, and her newborn son, Dominic James.

The late Guy Clifford was a BSC professor who taught history and political science.

“He had an abiding respect for public administration and good government,” said Dr. Wendy Haynes, associate professor of political science and coordinator of the MPA Program.

Posted on May 10, 2010

BSU NewsLog

 Leadership SouthCoast has announced the scholarship recipients in this year’s class of 23 students are Linnea Michel, esquire, supervisor of the Community Development Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Law School; Michaela Gagne, teacher and art therapist at St. Vincent’s Home in Fall River; Mary Cochrane, clinical consultant at Steppingstone; and Catherine Bourassa, director of Programs and Services, YWCA of SEMA. 
The scholarships for the four women were funded by contributions from BankFive, Southcoast Hospitals Group, The Women’s Fund, Saint Anne’s Hospital, the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts and individual donations from graduates and board members of Leadership SouthCoast.
The recruitment process is under way for the next class, beginning in September. More information on the process and the application are available at www.leadershipsouthcoast.org.

Posted Mar 29, 2010 @ 05:18 PM

The Herald News

Each year, Leadership SouthCoast selects a diverse group of acknowledged and aspiring leaders to participate in a thought-provoking, 10-month community leadership program consisting of two one-day retreats, eight monthly full-day sessions and a series of structured small group team-building activities. Participants are challenged with a variety of SouthCoast issues presented by leaders and experts in their fields. The program includes on-site visits, readings, discussion groups and other developmental activities.

“We are excited by the backgrounds and experience of the new class and think that the learning experience will be significantly enhanced by the students learning from each other,” said James Mathes, Leadership SouthCoast board chairman and executive director of the SMILES Mentoring Program.

Leadership SouthCoast’s mission is to provide the SouthCoast region with an ongoing source of diverse leaders. The program develops committed, knowledgeable and action-oriented individuals to serve as catalysts in promoting positive changes — people ready to roll up their sleeves and work to make the SouthCoast a better place to live, work and visit.

This year’s class includes four scholarship recipients and three students from the Masters in Public Policy Program at UMass Dartmouth, according to Michael Metzler, executive director of Leadership SouthCoast.

“There are now nearly 100 graduates who have benefited from Leadership SouthCoast and they are easily recognized as active and dedicated leaders in organizations, projects and initiatives throughout the SouthCoast,” Mathes said. “This (year’s class) is a very strong class.  Some come from the private sector, some from higher education and some from community organizations. They are truly a diverse group. There’s a wealth of leadership experience and potential demonstrated in both their jobs and in their community work.”

Mathes said one common thread in the group is their strong desire to improve the quality of life on the SouthCoast.

“Fundamentally, communities across the country have seen a decline in the numbers of people becoming engaged in civic and community affairs. We want to be among those communities that accept the challenge of doing something proactive to ensure a steady pool of talented and engaged leaders,” said Mathes. “I’ve been involved with LSC since the beginning. Two months ago, we graduated our fifth class, representing approximately 100 participants who are now scattered across our region and are hard at work in providing leadership on a wide variety of issues and projects.  That’s the definition of being proactive. That is how a community does what is necessary to take care of itself.”

Leadership SouthCoast was founded in 2004 as a nonprofit entity within the University of Massachusetts Foundation.

Leadership SouthCoast’s mission is to provide the region with an ongoing source of diverse leaders who are prepared and committed to serve as catalysts and sustainers of positive change for the quality of life. The program consists of two one-day retreats, eight monthly full-day sessions and a series of structured small group team-building activities.

The commencement address was delivered by Lisa Strattan, editor in chief of The Herald News. Other speakers included Chronicle Editor Robert Barboza, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Associate Vice Chancellor Joy Mcguirl-Hadley, Leadership SouthCoast outgoing Executive Director Antone Vieira Jr. and the Rev. David Lima.

Nicole M. Almeida, Shelley Correia, Caroline R. Cuccia, Jennifer S. Downing, Tracy A. Gerety-Ibbotson, John F. Long, Jill M. MacLean, Helen Silva Marques, Maria H. Mojica, Athena M.G. Mota, Ephraim O. Osazuwa, Melissa M. Pacheco, Maria O. Pinarretta, Charlene M. Rocha, Kristine Rodrigues, Michael Ryan, and Lois E. Spirlet.

Scholarship support is also being solicited for aspiring leaders whose employers are not able to sponsor them, or for those individuals who may require help paying for the program or on their own. Applications, as well as other information, are available at www.leadershipsouthcoast.org.

Leadership SouthCoast’s mission is to provide the SouthCoast region with an ongoing source of diverse leaders. The program develops committed, knowledgeable and action-oriented individuals to serve as catalysts in promoting positive changes– people ready to roll up their sleeves and work to make the SouthCoast a better place to live, work, and visit.

Each year, Leadership SouthCoast selects a diverse group of acknowledged and aspiring leaders to participate in a thought-provoking, 10-month community leadership program consisting of two one-day retreats, eight monthly full-day sessions, and a series of structured small group team-building activities. Participants are challenged by a variety of SouthCoast issues presented by leaders and experts in their fields.

The program includes on-site visits, readings, discussion groups, and other developmental activities.

“There are now nearly 100 graduates who have benefited from Leadership SouthCoast and they are easily recognized as active and dedicated leaders in organizations, projects, and initiatives throughout the SouthCoast,” said James Mathes, Leadership SouthCoast board chairman and executive director of the SMILES Mentoring Program.

Tuition for each participant in Leadership SouthCoast 2010 has been reduced to $2,000. Michael Metzler, incoming Leadership SouthCoast executive director and retired president of St. Anne’s Hospital, expects to recruit a class of 25 to 30 students by fall.

Prospective students, sponsors and donors may go to www.leadershipsouthcoast.org for more information and Metzler’s contact information.
Leadership SouthCoast was founded in 2004 as a non-profit entity within the University of Massachusetts Foundation.

The Chronicle – VOL. XXXII, NO. 22
Press Release
June 3, 2009

Seriously, though… a student of horticulture since his youth on his grandfather’s farm in Rhode Island, Barboza recently embarked on a one-man campaign to raise awareness about the many health and nutritional benefits of blueberries– by planting free berry patches at senior centers, public gardens, and community centers throughout the region.

The project is the result of his time spent as a member of the “Green Team” of the Leadership South Coast (LSC) Class of 2008. The three-person group (including The Trustees of Reservations coordinator Jennifer Holske and former Big Brother/Big Sister manager Rich Couse), undertook the task of collecting information and preparing a report on the local agricultural resources available to Community Garden planners setting up cooperative garden projects in their communities.

When the LSC program ended, Barboza decided to continue helping community gardeners looking to supplement their annual vegetable plantings with the nutritious fruit from easy-to-grow perennial bushes. The berry bushes require a minimum of care, can easily be grown organically, and will produce a bountiful harvest of tasty berries for decades.

The initial focus of his post-grad project was to establish plantings at places where seniors live, because of the special benefits elders can enjoy by eating the fresh fruit.

“Blueberries are one of the fruits with the highest levels of antioxidants on the planet– and full of vitamins C, D, and E,” Barboza noted. “Antioxidants help the body fight every kind of cancer-causing disease, improve mental function, and counteract many of the effects of aging, both physically and mentally. It’s the perfect food for senior citizens– low in fat, high in fiber, and full of vitamins to help you stay healthy,” he added.

“It’s also the perfect ‘sustainable’ crop, because once you plant them, you just do a little light pruning every year, and you enjoy the organic harvest for a lifetime; a crop of fresh fruit every summer, all natural, and all good,” Mr. Barboza suggested.

The first “free” blueberry patch was installed in April at the Autumn Glen assisted living facility in North Dartmouth, where Leadership South Coast Class of 2009 member Lois Spirlet arranged for the facility’s “adopted” elementary school students from the nearby Potter School to help plant a dozen hybrid and native bushes.

Started last week was the planting of a dozen blueberry bushes at the Westport Senior Center on Reed Road, where Barboza was assisted by COA volunteer Ted Johnson in the first phase of work.

Barboza said special thanks go out to the Westport Permanent Firefighters Association (Local 1802) and treasurer Paul Duhon for a $100 donation to kick off the project; BankFive’s Charitable Giving Committee contributed additional funds, thanks to bank employees Andrew Guilbeault and John Cooke; and the Portuguese-American Civic League of Westport added another $100 donation to purchase plants. An anonymous senior center benefactor also contributed money for plants and landscaping materials for the continuing project.

Next, Barboza would like to meet with the director of the Dartmouth Senior Center to plan a blueberry patch there, or at the adjacent Bullard Wellness Center. Plantings of some berry bushes at the UMass Dartmouth community garden on campus, possibly in the fall, are also in the discussion stages, he noted.

The berry project is going slowly, with each project being planned as donors are lined up to finance it, and willing volunteers recruited to help with the planting and landscaping.

While he makes light of the occasional comparisons to Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman (1774–1845) in Leominster, Barboza does draw some inspiration from the pioneer nurseryman who became famous for introducing apple trees to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois two centuries ago.
Chapman became an American legend because of his generous ways, his conservation leadership, and his efforts to communicate the symbolic importance of apples to a new generation of farmers expanding westward after the Revolutionary War.

Johnny Chapman’s nurseries had trees big enough to transplant on the new farms of veterans heading west after the war. By 1806, after years of traveling along the Ohio River with a load of seeds to give away, he was known far and wide as Johnny Appleseed, an expert itinerant horticulturist– and sometimes-fiery preacher.

“I’ve been growing blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and grapes on my little farm for a long time, and I’ve been giving away extra vines and berry bushes to friends and coworkers for years,” Barboza said. “The Leadership South Coast program helped me solidify a plan for taking that one-man giveaway program to the next level,” he said.

” The only thing I’m asking of the facilities where I plant berry patches is to pay the favor forward by finding me a donor to help with the next project,” he explained. “The next planting place will be asked to help finance a berry patch somewhere else; and with a little luck, the project can go on for years.”
The public planting sites will be used as outdoor classrooms to teach amateur farmers how to plant, prune and care for their berry bushes. His ultimate goal, Barboza said, would be to someday have thousands of South Coast residents educated about how to plant and care for a couple of blueberry bushes in their back yard, workplace, or local playground, where everyone can enjoy a taste of summer– a harvest of fresh, tasty fruit to share with friends and neighbors for decades to come.

Not to mention a freezer full of fresh berries, waiting to be thawed and baked into hot muffins, and pancakes and pies for your family when the winter wind is howling outside.

(Editor’s Note: The writer may lack complete objectivity– she is the subject’s daughter, and a blueberry lover.)

Photo Details — PHOTO BY TED JOHNSON/Special To The Chronicle
GREEN TEAM: Chronicle editor Bob Barboza waters some new plantings at the Westport COA senior center on Reed Road. The Leadership South Coast Class of 2008 graduate is planting blueberry patches at community centers throughout the area as a part of his Green Team Blueberry Project, using donated funds and labor.

The Chronicle – VOL. XXXII, NO. 22
By MARY-LEE BARBOZA
Special Writer
June 3, 2009

“That was the recommended Senate budget just voted on,” noted State Rep. Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport), a guest in the normally off-limits Senate chamber along with the LSC delegation, courtesy of his South Coast colleague State Sen. Joan Menard (D-Fall River), Assistant Majority Leader of this branch of the General Court.

“It’s 26 billion dollars, a little over a billion dollars less than the House budget,” Menard told the visiting group of business and community leaders in training, who were accompanied by Westport Finance Committee Chair Lisa Arnold and incoming LSC Director Michael Metzer of Dartmouth on their tour of the State House and meetings with top legislators from both branches of the Legislature.

The next step, Menard explained, would be for Senate members to file amendments to the official budget package, seeking to recover some of the funding for local projects trimmed from the lean Senate budget.

“We’ll start working on it next Tuesday, begin reviewing amendments and start our conference work with the House of Representatives,” she added. One of the class members, SMILES mentoring program Director of Resource Development & Retention Nicole Almeida, wasted no time suggesting to Menard that cut funds helping to support SMILES be restored with such an amendment.

It was still quite a road to be travelled to the compromise budget the two branches will forge into a spending plan to submit to Gov. Deval Patrick to sign, Menard advised the group. Weeks of conference committee work, debate on amendments, and countless separate votes in both houses still lay ahead, the senator said, before cities and towns will have firm aid numbers to work with as they finalize their own budgets.

The budget plan the Senate had just approved included a 30 percent cut in local aid, a two percent reduction in previously-held-sacred Chapter 70 school aid to cities and towns, and a proposed increase in the state sales tax to 6.25 percent. Menard called some of the necessary cuts “tragic” and “devastating” for some programs, noting “this is much worse than anything I’ve ever seen (in terms of cuts), and I’ve been here for 31 years. And yes, it does include tax increases.”

The historic moment passed, it was time to get back to regular business, said the veteran legislator. “Today, we’re working on the health care reform bill,” the state senator noted, standing in front of Senate desks with approved and pending bills “tied up with red tape” as 300 years of legislative tradition demands.

The projected cuts in state funding and local aid didn’t sit too well with the visitors, who got a first-hand report on the Senate budget plan later in the day to the LSC delegation by Speaker of the House Rep. Robert DeLeo and House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee Chairman Charles Murphy.

“These are very difficult times,” the Speaker told the LSC class. “Even with the tax increases, there’s going to be some awful cuts; we have to do more with less,” he suggested.

“But we have to be ready for when the economy rebounds,” he added. “That’s why Rep. Rodrigues is such an important part of this body; working hard to support the biotech industry through the Life Sciences bill, and through his past work on key committees; all this will help us be ready for the future.”

He was planning to meet with New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang and other South Coast legislators later that day, DeLeo said, crediting the city with wise use of business growth, workforce training, and job creation funding in the past. “My (recent) visit to New Bedford was a good one; I hope that the progress being made there will continue,” he added.

Lisa Arnold, the only Finance Committee member in the state with first-hand knowledge of the budget plan, took advantage of her face time with the House Speaker and Ways & Means Committee chairman to lobby for some local aid money to be restored. Keep local aid cuts to a minimum to spare struggling cities and towns more painful cutbacks, she urged the influential legislative leaders.

The LSC group traveled to the city on a MBTA train, getting a sampling of the commuter rail service that may be coming to the South Coast soon. A front-page newspaper story detailing State Treasurer Tim Cahill’s remarks that the economy and state budget situation had all but killed the South Coast Rail Project for the near future was a hot topic of conversation on the train, and during later meetings with legislators.

Rep. Robert Koczera (D-New Bedford) told the LSC contingent that he believed the Treasurer’s comments were off the mark. The commuter rail line “is so important to our region, to continued job growth, and to the local economy,” Koczera said. “It will help combat the brain drain of talented people from our region leaving, and it will help grow the local economy by giving South Coast residents access to good jobs, so they can bring those paychecks back to the region to spend,” he suggested.

The LSC program is now accepting applications for the Class of 2010, said outgoing Director Dr. Antone Vieira of Westport. The program’s web page (www.leadershipsouthcoast.org) has been recently updated to include application forms and an appeal for corporate sponsors for 2010, noted Metzer, the incoming director as of July 1.

May 22, 2009 3:35 PM
BY ROBERT BARBOZA
Hathaway News Service
LSC Class of 2008

Original article appeared here