Listen First Montana Eric Halverson

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 2023, Carmen discusses her experience as an entrepreneur, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Montana, why she fervently believes in the power of ‘listening first,’ and much more.

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 Leadership Montana, which communities they most enjoyed visiting, lessons learned from their experience in the program, and much more. This episode was recorded in the Spring of 2023 on the campus of MSU-Northern in Havre, MT. 

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 Chantel Schieffer, who shares the speech she gave at Jerry’s memorial service on the University of Montana campus on February 11, 2023. Next, various friends, family members, colleagues and students reflect on Jerry’s life and the memories they shared with him. Many of these reflections were recorded in the hours just before Jerry’s memorial service. Leadership Montana sends a special thank you to all those who contributed to this episode.

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 ask Kelly a few questions. Kelly shares stories of her past leadership roles, leadership lessons from her 10-year-old son, her hope for the future of Leadership Montana, 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 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 philosophy, and much more.