There really is no way for the MLS Board of Directors to explain the impact that the Missouri Leadership Seminar on the lives of the students and staff that have the opportunity to attend. Having said that, we thought the best way to enlighten schools, parents, volunteers and our supporters was to go directly to the source, the alumni and staff.
Please take a moment to read the following testimonials that have been submitted by previous ambassadors, staff members, and volunteers. To become an active volunteer or for further information on Missouri Leadership Seminar, please email us at info@moleadership.com.
Coleson
2018 Ambassador, JuFa, SuFa, previous Director of Staff
There are few other programs in Missouri that bring together so many different walks of life. MLS is capable of doing so because everyone in this program wants to build the skills to become a better leader. We make sure that the skills strengthened at seminar can transfer to school, work, extracurriculars, and every day lives of our ambassadors. Myself and my colleagues couldn’t be luckier to be a part of such an amazing program.
Aubrey
2023 Ambassador, now JuFa & on Theme Team
I was such a shy kid. I thought that, because I’m never going to be the first to speak meant, I could never be good enough as a leader. I was nominated because of my grades, and I went mostly to add to my college resume. But Seminar was so much more. It turns out that being a leader is about using your gifts to make change. I could sit back and observe and feel, and no one there would judge me. In fact, I was praised for my emotional intelligence, something I didn’t even know I had. I connected with people that I consider my family. MLS changed my perspective on leadership.
Sadie Folkert
2023 Ambassador
MLS had such a major impact on me and my life that most of the time when I’m talking, I bring it up. It let me meet people that have similar opinions as me and also vastly different ones. But even then, we were all friends and able to work together, no matter the differences between our beliefs, ages, interests, and anything in between. These people allowed me to meet a better me and push myself to be that 24/7. So thank you, Christie and Clayton, for pushing me and accepting me. And to my “Supercali-besties-for-the-resties” (Mary Poppins group theme) who could sing the day away, through better and worse.
Grace Carlson
2013 Ambassador, Staley High School
MLS has changed my life. As ridiculous as this sounds, the three days I spent at seminar have impacted me in ways I could never have imagined. It’s not just the amazing friends and memories I made, but the entire experience made me into a better leader, a better friend, and a better person. I am no longer shy in large crowds, I reach out to people I don’t know, and I truly believe that a warm fuzzy can turn someone’s day around. The people of MLS are the best in the world; this is an incredible organization doing incredible things to change the lives of today’s students!
Abbie Ford
2013 Ambassador, Osborn High School
MLS has really changed my life. I’ve met some of my closest and most meaningful friends through Missouri Leadership Seminar and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Thank you MLS for all the great memories!
Taylor Libbert
2012 Ambassador, Fatima High School
MLS is amazing, simply put. By the end, I was thoroughly shock by warm everyone was to one another — so filled with optimism and enthusiasm. They taught me how to live like that with leadership skills too. MLS changed my perception on so many issue — for the better, of course. I still keep in touch with people from my ambassador year. Honestly, I wouldn’t be who I am today if it were not for MLS.
Amanda Klopcic
2011 Ambassador, Clopton High School
MLS was such an eye-opening and life-changing experience for me. I learned so much more about the world and the people in it, while making friends that will be by my side for the rest of my life.
Annie Henning
2011 Ambassador, Lafayette High School
Missouri Leadership Seminar was the most amazing experience of my life! It is impossible to explain how moving one weekend can be, let alone believe! Because of this weekend, I have been able to embrace my inner leader and opened doors that I never thought were even a possibility for for me. I have become a better version of myself because of this experience. At the seminar, you do not learn leadership by listening to a lecture about how to “fit the mold”. As an ambassador, you learn leadership through hands on experience and critical thinking in a no judgement zone. Most importantly, MLS has become such a major part of my life that the people at this seminar have become a second family to me. I love coming back every year and seeing this family grow.
Sarah & Jerry Vaughan
Volunteers for the MLS Board of Directors, Grain Valley, Missouri
Our daughter, Hannah, was an Ambassador in 1998. She returned as a Junior Facilitator (JuFa) every year until she turned 21. Since her seminar year, she has won various awards, studied and traveled abroad, graduated from college and is now entering graduate school. To this day, she still marks her time at the seminar as one of the most life changing events she has experienced.
Beverly Shelton, GFWC–General Federation of Women’s Clubs Representative
Volunteers for the MLS Board of Directors, Independence, Missouri
Since my first experience as a Dinner with a Pro participant in 1986 and then working actively for many years as the Director of Facilities, I have met and observed many outstanding leaders as they developed through the years. Due to my age, I must now limit my involvement to Board of Directors meetings, serving as TRAIL Chairman for the GFWC of Missouri to secure GFWC club support throughout the state and getting club members in my own GFWC district to provide DOZENS & DOZENS & DOZENS of homemade cookies for the seminar. It has been a great experience and I cherish the many friends that I have made in my 20 years working with the Leadership Seminars!
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