By Scott Marquardt, Southwest Initiative Foundation
The newest issue of our CONNECT newsletter is all about career pathways. Our feature story has highlights from the vast network of partnerships around our region that are supporting our students in finding meaningful work and our employers in filling their workforce needs so that our economy and communities can thrive.
Choosing what to include was difficult because there is so much happening in career and technical education right now. Something we didn’t have room to cover in the feature that I want to call out are the career exploration events in southwest Minnesota. From IGNITE Your Future in Hutchinson to Southwest Minnesota Career Expo in Worthington and Marshall, thousands of students attend these fun, interactive events that help them “try on” different jobs. It takes hundreds of business, agency and education volunteers working together to pull it off.
Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF) is proud to not only be a
sponsor, but also to invest our time to support these events. More
than half our staff are based at the office in Hutchinson, and each year a group volunteers at IGNITE, as well as SWIF Chief Administrative Officer Missy Maiers serving on the event’s steering committee.
I’m grateful for the willingness of our team to mobilize their expertise and relationships to make multi-partner and multi-faceted convenings and projects a success. Career pathways work is not just something we fund. It’s something we at SWIF as an employer – and our staff as community members and even as parents – care deeply about.
As you read this issue’s highlights, know that there are many more efforts underway and take the opportunity to explore what’s happening in your own community.
Read the latest CONNECT stories
What makes a leader?
In the face of challenges including addiction and incarceration, Mark Stewart has persevered. After suffering the loss of his partner, Taylor Joy, to mental illness, something clicked for him, and he has been relentlessly serving his community since then. A nontraditional leadership journey like Mark’s has steep highs and lows. He has kept going through them all.
Petra Jimenez on leadership
Petra Jimenez has lived most of her life in southwest Minnesota and makes her home in Fulda. A graduate of our latest Growing Local: Emerging Leaders cohort, Petra plans to run for the local school board next year. Last year, she organized the first Welcoming Week celebration in Fulda to help build belonging.
