At today’s annual membership meeting of the Boulder Chamber, we’re thrilled that two of our community partners will be honored, along with our own Elvira Ramos. Elvira will receive a Champion Award for her dedication to the success of the Boulder County Leadership Fellows Program, a partnership between the Boulder Chamber and The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County.
Says Elvira, “It’s really about the Leadership Fellows. The program connects those who have self-identified as emerging leaders in our county with other leaders and potential leaders in business, government and nonprofits – we have folks who are just starting out in nonprofits sitting next to bankers. What they have in common is a strong desire to improve our quality of life, and to create opportunities in their particular field or area of interest.”
One of Elvira’s favorite quotes is this one by Lao Tzu: “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” Indeed, that’s exactly the kind of leader Elvira is, in her tireless efforts to inspire and develop future community leaders.
“Most Leadership Fellows maintain connections with participants in their class,” she says. “They use each other to network, to move their careers forward, to serve on boards.
“The diversity among the participants means a lot to me, as does our emphasis on inclusivity – that’s the real fire in my belly. Inclusivity means people having equal voices. That’s especially important here, because diversity and inclusivity are lacking in Boulder County. For one thing, we need to remember that Boulder isn’t representative of Boulder County.
“We’re developing leaders who are ready and willing to be pushed in new directions, and the program nurtures and encourages that impulse.”
At today’s Boulder Chamber meeting, the Virginia Patterson Business Person of the Year will go to Judy Amabile, Co-Owner of Polar Bottle. One of our community partners, Judy helped turn a family business into a global leader in design and manufacturing of high-tech beverage containers.
“I’ve lived in Boulder my whole adult life,” says Judy. “I love it here, and I want to help make it a better place.”
According to Judy, leadership is “a values thing.”
“I think people who live their values are good leaders,” she says. “Some people lead in a quiet way, some in a louder way…it doesn’t matter how you do it, you can always tell who’s authentic, and who isn’t.”
At Polar Bottle, Judy strives to treat her employees well. “We didn’t start out with some grand plan to be an ethical company. We just wanted to make some money and sell some products! But along the way, we came to see what an impact we have on peoples’ lives – and we want to make that as good as we can.
“People still ask us, ‘Why don’t you get this made in China?’ The answer is, we don’t care about money above everything else. We actually care that people aren’t dying in pursuit of our wanting to make a profit. We also think companies should be mindful of the environment, and be good stewards of our Earth.
“It’s all about making choices.”
Speaking of making choices, Bob Morehouse – CEO of Vermilion, another valued community partners, including his longtime commitment to the Open Door Fund – will be honored today with a Community Leadership Award for his efforts to help guide the 2014 City Ballot Initiative supporting community arts and culture to passage.
“The city has heavily and appropriately invested in open space, and in a social services safety net – but very little, if anything, in the arts,” he says. “This was an historic effort to change that by getting the city to provide funding for arts-related initiatives. I took the lead as Creative Director for everything from marketing materials to advertising.
“The core of the initiative was to get the city to raise funds for a public park downtown, as well as renovations for The Dairy Center for the Arts, lighting and security for The Hill area and the Chautauqua district, and more. We pulled together a wide coalition and engaged their constituencies to mobilize the community.” And it worked.
CONGRATULATIONS to these deserving honorees!
