20 graduate from 2022 Leadership Kearney | Local News

Founded in 1990, Leadership Kearney identifies the next generation of leaders in the Kearney area. During a two-year program that includes 10 sessions, participants attend a series of educational outings in which they learn about the functions of Kearney’s government, its economy and other key elements on which the community is built. 

The following is a list of graduates who completed a questionnaire from the Hub:

Employer and Job Title: Associate Attorney at Bruner Frank, L.L.C.

Family: I am married to my wife, Mary Rose Icenogle, and we have a 6-month-old daughter named Rollins Icenogle.

Hobbies/special interests: I enjoy playing golf, reading about history, and watching Husker sports

Something about you that not everyone knows: While obtaining my law decree, I spent my summers working at Ace Irrigation spot welding and riveting pipe from 18-100 inches in diameter.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: I love spending time in the summer hanging out in the patio areas at Cunningham’s or Platte Valley Brewery.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? My favorite part of Leadership Kearney has been learning about the different industries that support Kearney.

Employer and job title: FNBO ag and commercial lender

Family: Wife Alison; sons Preston and Brooks

Hobbies/special interests: Enjoy spending time outside, whether that be spending time with the family and friends, golfing, fishing, or hunting.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: Any place with friends. Kearney has a lot of fun places to visit and hang out.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? When I started the Leadership Kearney program, my wife and I had recently moved here from Omaha. The LK program was an excellent way to get to know the town I now call home and to meet some wonderful people that I now call friends.

Employer and job title: Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral Home owner/funeral director

Family: Mother, siblings, nieces and nephews

Hobbies/special interests: Sports, history, politics

Something about you that not everyone knows: I was a sonar man on a submarine in the U.S. Navy.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: The World Theatre

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Getting to know my classmates

Employer and job title: Bruning Bank, loan review clerk

Family: I am married to Russ and have three children; Emma, Riley and Skylar.

Hobbies/special interests: I love to travel. Summer is my favorite season: camping, fishing, swimming, sitting in the sun, playing games with the family, bike riding, etc.

Something about you that not everyone knows: When I was a child, I was featured in the Oregon Fish & Wildlife magazine for winning a photo contest while on a fishing trip with family.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: I love the hike and bike trail system in Kearney. It’s a wonderful place to get some exercise or just enjoy the outdoors.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? I have enjoyed getting to know my classmates and experiencing places around Kearney I didn’t realize were here. I have lived in Kearney almost 20 years, but am constantly learning about new companies and/or activities that Kearney has to offer.

Employer and job title: Kinship Pointe Northridge executive director

Family: Fiancé and soon to be stepson

Hobbies/special interests: Painting, plant lover, Disney fanatic, outdoorswoman, and watching stepson’s activities.

Something about you that not everyone knows: I was a Walt Disney World cast member.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: Paint Paradise

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Getting to know classmates and experiencing the variety of areas that make Kearney awesome.

Employer and job title: City of Kearney, assistant director of utilities

Family: One cat, one dog, my parents and brother, and a very large extended family

Hobbies/special interests: Becoming closer to God and discovering the vast wealth of knowledge in the Catholic Church. I also really enjoy hiking and exploring new places, reading, volunteering, and learning all sorts of new things.

Something about you that not everyone knows: I hate coffee. As far as I’m concerned, it is dirty bean water that will never taste good even with all the extra flavoring added.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: I don’t really have a particular place in Kearney that is my favorite, but I’d have to say anywhere that I get to spend time with my favorite people.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Meeting the people and seeing the places that I wouldn’t otherwise get to see.

Employer and job title: Kearney Regional Medical Center safety and security manager

Family: Husband Jared, daughter Brynlee and son Collin

Hobbies/special interests: Chasing the kids around for their activities, KPR volleyball

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: McCue’s Taproom. Great atmosphere.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Meeting new people and forming relationships. I’m not a Kearney native and I learned so many great things about the city of Kearney.

Employer and job title: Retail manager II at Great Western Bank, a division of First Interstate Bank

Family: Wife Katrina and daughter Mariam

Hobbies/special interests: I enjoy spending time with my family, painting, playing and listening to music, learning languages, and playing golf.

Something about you that not everyone knows: I am an artist. Painting is a great creative outlet for me and a great way to relax.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: I enjoy riding my bike on the hike-bike trail, golfing at the Elks Golf Club, and having refreshments at The Cup.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? It has been an incredible experience. I have made many great connections, and have learned so much about our community.

Employer and job title: Jacobsen Orr associate attorney

Family: Wife Emily, daughter Cecilia, and son August

Hobbies/special interests: Hunting, fishing, golfing, lake days

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: Kearney Country Club

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Learning about how the city is run.

Employer and job title: External relations and marketing director at Nebraska Safety Center, owner Midwest Floor Specialists

Family: Husband Broc Howard; sons Hayden and Henson Howard

Hobbies/special interests: Physical activity from running, to biking and golfing. You will also see me on many sidelines watching our boys compete in all their activities and supporting KPS athletics.

Something about you that not everyone knows: I have a great skill of falling asleep in the passenger seat for any road trip.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: I love any time I can spend outside, and Kearney offers so many incredible ways to do this. My favorites in Kearney include the great trail system, Yanney Park to kayaking down the Whitewater Park.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? The experience has made me appreciate and love Kearney even more! From the wonderful people in the class to the people you interact with through your speakers and businesses at each session. Kearney has so many great attributes that make it a great place to raise a family, work and enjoy your free time.

Employer and job title: Parker Hannifin division quality manager

Hobbies/special interests: spending time with family and friends. Patio gardening

Something about you that not everyone knows: I have moved around the country for the last 15 years, but I am glad to be back in central Nebraska. You can’t beat the beauty of a Nebraska sunset.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: Yanney Heritage Park is always a great place to relax and appreciate nature.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Getting to learn about all the aspects of Kearney that I was not aware of interact with on a regular basis.

Employer and job title: CHI Health Good Samaritan Progressive Care Unit manager

Family: Husband Reese, sons Lincoln, 4, and Ralston, 1

Hobbies/special interests: Spending time with family and friends, shopping, traveling, volunteering

Something about you that not everyone knows: I NEVER miss a Nebraska football game.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: the parks

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Learning behind the scenes information about many different places around the city.

Employer and job title: Bluestone Wealth Advisors: Partner/advisor

Family: Tommy Waters is my fiancé. We are getting married in August. She plans to move to Kearney to be a dentist once she is done at UNMC College of Dentistry.

Hobbies/special interests: Watching and following my Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Also I “try” to golf.

Something about you that not everyone knows: I am left handed

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: I really enjoy Cunningham’s on the Bricks outdoor sitting area during the summer (bonus if they have a band playing, too).

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? I really enjoyed the people I met. LK connects you with really cool, forward thinking and motivated like-minded individuals. Throughout this process you not only learn a ton about Kearney and all the amazing things happening within in it, but you meet these people in your class who I truly believe become lifelong friends. It has been a 10-out-of-10 experience for me.

Employer and job title: UNK Athletics business analyst

Family: Shawn, husband and three girls Kayten, 17; Keelie, 15; and Kenna, 12

Hobbies/special interests: Attending UNK athletic events and all my girls’ sporting activities, camping, antiquing and second-hand scavenging

Something about you that not everyone knows: I am always up for stopping at Goodwill, a garage sale, or second-hand store

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: Cunningham’s on the Lake for the atmosphere with friends

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Getting to know many of the other leaders in our community and getting a behind-the-scenes look at all the amazing businesses, trades and industries our community offers. Before Leadership Kearney, I knew these places existed, but it was very valuable to understand the magnitude our community offers.

Employer and job title: Ward Laboratories human resource business manager

Family: Wife Mallory, daughters Bellamie, Raimee and Adley; son Beau

Hobbies/special interests: Watching football, camping and Crossfit

Something about you that not everyone knows: I used to own Baristas’s Daily Grind and was a national champion barista.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: We love having coffee outside at Barista’s. Thunderhead is a favorite as well as Cunningham’s on the Lake.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Leadership Kearney has been an amazing opportunity to develop relationships with like-minded individuals in the community, and learn more about the interworkings of all the different areas of Kearney’s industries. LK has helped develop my ability to work with a diverse group of skill sets and has shown me where some of my weaknesses are, but more importantly how to leverage my strengths with others to get things done and create a positive impactful program for those after us.

Employer and job title: Kearney Dental Clinic, owner/dentist

Family: husband Wade, children Titus, 8, Abel, 6 and Cecelia.

Hobbies/special interests: trivia, reading, golf

Something about you that not everyone knows: I was a guest on the trivia podcast, “Trivial Warfare” last year.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: The Cup

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? The best part of Leadership Kearney is the relationships formed with other classmates and individuals within the community. As a graduate of Youth Leadership Kearney, I enjoyed getting to go through the program again, as an adult. It’s interesting to see how much has changed in the last 15 years in our community.

Employer and job title: New York Life financial advisor

Family: three daughters, Addy, Aubrey and Emma

Hobbies/special interests: Bee keeper, hunting and being outdoors, anything that gets my girls and me outside.

Something about you that not everyone knows: I help lead an organization called Combat Warriors of Nebraska. We are a 501c3 that takes military combat warriors on outdoor adventures.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: Thunderhead has the best pizza in Kearney and a great staff, so you can find me relaxing with friends at Thunderhead enjoying a local brew from a local family.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? I loved getting to know all the back stories of so many businesses. We have some incredibly talented people in Kearney. So many business are locally owned with amazing stories. Getting to know why Kearney is so special just makes me love this town even more. We all need to work together to protect and nurture this amazing little town.

Employer and job title: Associate director of financial aid at Central Community College.

Family: Fiancé Derek and our two children, Kason and Hadley.

Hobbies/special interests: I enjoy catching up on podcasts and audiobooks, caring for my houseplant collection, playing games and enjoying the outdoors.

Something about you that not everyone knows: I dabble in balloon animal artistry.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: On the Bricks supporting local businesses and the parks.

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Experiencing our city “behind the scenes.” As a transplant, it has been insightful to see how local decisions are made, to visit the pillars of the city firsthand, and to network with other leaders.

Employer and job title: University of Nebraska at Kearney, digital communication and engagement coordinator

Family: Husband, Chris and 1-year-old son, Will

Hobbies/special interests: Running, traveling and cheering for the Indianapolis Colts

Something about you that not everyone knows: I’m a certified social media strategist through the National Institute for Social Media.

Favorite place to visit or hang out in Kearney: Platte Valley Brewery

What have you enjoyed most about Leadership Kearney? Getting to know all of my classmates — people that I may not have crossed paths with if it weren’t for this experience.

Employer and Job Title: Kearney Regional Medical Center chief operating officer