A major gift from the McPartland Family Foundation will drive the creation of a Future Leaders Program through the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Sentry School of Business and Economics.
The McPartland Family Foundation will support a new, highly experiential program beginning this fall for a select group of Sentry School students. It will identify those with significant leadership potential through a nomination process, and those chosen will elevate their leadership skills through a variety of high-impact activities held throughout the year, including special courses.
“Great leaders are developed through experience, mentorship and a willingness to continue learning. Our hope is that this program gives students opportunities to build confidence, develop their own leadership style and realize the impact they can have on the people around them,” said Pete McPartland, chairman of the McPartland Family Foundation Board of Directors and chairman and CEO of Sentry Insurance. “When we invest in young people with leadership potential, we’re also investing in stronger businesses, stronger communities and a stronger future. This is important to our family foundation and to Sentry.”
The Future Leaders Program will include a mentoring program with regional professionals, leadership assessments, executive coaching by notable authors and service-learning projects within the community.
“This program will help the Sentry School attract and develop the next generation of business and community leaders,” said UWSP Chancellor Bob Brinkmann. “We are grateful to the McPartland Family Foundation for its generosity in supporting student success as well as regional economic development through our graduates.”
The gift also establishes the Pete McPartland Executive Boardroom within the future Sentry Hall, now under construction with the renovation of the former Collins Classroom Center on the UWSP campus. The boardroom will be designed as a professional environment for high-level meetings and leadership training and will be a hub for students and faculty as well as the Sentry School’s Business Advisory Council.
“This boardroom will not only celebrate Pete McPartland’s legacy of leadership at Sentry, UWSP, and in the community, it will serve as a setting where students can simulate real-world boardroom scenarios as they develop the leadership, negotiation and strategic-thinking skills needed for today’s business world,” said Sentry School Professor Elizabeth Martin, director of the Future Leaders Program. “This space will promote cross-disciplinary collaboration, allowing students from different programs to engage with one another and enhance their educational experience.”
“It’s an honor to have this boardroom bear my name, but what matters most is how it will be used. I hope it becomes a place that will help prepare students for the decisions they’ll make in a boardroom, in a setting where students challenge one another, solve complex problems and develop the judgment and leadership skills they’ll carry throughout their careers,” McPartland said.