Pete Ferguson won't presume to judge whether he's fulfilled that mission during his 9½-year tenure at Leadership Lincoln Inc.But he hopes the Lincoln community will decide he has.
MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, January 5, 2009 12:00 am
In all he does, Pete Ferguson follows a personal mission: Leave things better than how he found them.
Ferguson won’t presume to judge whether he’s fulfilled that mission during his 9½-year tenure at Leadership Lincoln Inc.
But he hopes the Lincoln community will decide he has.
Because now Ferguson is ready for a new adventure.
As of Jan. 30, Leadership Lincoln’s vice president will step down to accept a position with Lincoln Public Schools. He said he couldn’t give specifics on his new job but that it will allow him to continue working to improve the community.
“As a person I’m not changing,” Ferguson, 35, said Friday. “I’m fortunate not to be leaving.”
In nearly a decade at Leadership Lincoln, Ferguson has helped untold numbers of youth unlock their leadership potential — whether through official programs like Youth Leadership Lincoln or through other community outreach efforts, like an annual youth rally celebrating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Youth Leadership Lincoln is one of the city’s hallmark leadership training programs for young people. About 40 ninth-graders a year participate in the highly competitive program, in which they have opportunities to network, perform community service and develop their leadership skills.
Graduates of the program may join the Youth in Action Center, where they serve on city advisory committees and perform community service.
Such programs give young students the tools they need to become leaders.
But it’s the students’ follow-through that touches Ferguson the most.
Maybe a shy student gathers the courage to run for Student Council. Maybe another tries out for a sports team. Maybe another tests a talent by writing an article for the school newspaper.
“They get this look: ‘I didn’t realize I could do this and I did,’” Ferguson said. “It isn’t so much that they come up and give you a hug, or the high-five they give you. It’s honestly that look.”
And that translates into happier, more involved, more community-conscious teens, Ferguson said, a benefit to the entire city.
“It’s important to provide these opportunities where people can see themselves in meaningful, decision-making roles,” he said.
Leadership Lincoln offers adult programs, too, like the Lincoln Executive Series, a 14-week program in which senior management executives learn about Lincoln’s economy, health care, education, quality of life and more.
Lincoln, Ferguson said, is a community worth investing in.
People are kind, he said. And young families like his — he has an 8-year-old daughter — find Lincoln is a safe place to raise children.
That’s why he hopes to continue building relationships here.
The people he serves, Ferguson said, have given to him more than he could ever repay.
Young people, for instance, have taught him that it’s OK to dream big.
That he should never lose his sense of humor.
That text-messages add up quickly and it’s best to have a cell-phone plan that allows unlimited texting.
“It definitely wasn’t an easy decision… I’m looking forward to the new opportunity,” Ferguson said. “What I’ll always do is look for something where I can pursue my passions and the things I believe in.”
Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.