Jan. 17—ASHTABULA — Beth Cybulski has been appointed the new executive director of LEADERship Ashtabula County.
Founded in 1989, the organization hosts classes and programs for county adults and children, to teach them about the area and surrounding region.
Cybulski, who is also on the Geneva Area City School Board and Geneva Business Women Inc., said she wasn’t sure about the position at first.
“After a lot of consideration, talking with my family, I decided I indeed did want to take on the challenge to lead LEADERship into the future,” she said.
Cybulski said she has ideas for the organization.
“I need to settle into the role first,” she said. “There’s a lot for me to learn.”
Cybulski is excited to continue the organization’s work, she said.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to introduce both adults and students to the bigger picture of what Ashtabula County has to offer,” she said.
LEADERship’s mission is to attract and retain people in the county to develop the economy.
“Kids will leave and feel like there aren’t opportunities to come back,” she said. “We like to give them the exposure to all kinds of career options.”
These career options include business, the trades and civic or nonprofit work.
Cybulski said the organization gives programs to kids of many backgrounds.
“We’ll take kids whether they’re going into college, or whether they’re going into the trades,” she said.
Cybulski said programs for adults and kids involve trips across the county and northeast Ohio
“We typically go toward Cleveland,” she said.
LEADERship’s programs prepare kids for career challenges and networking, she said.
“On the adult side, it’s really more about making connections with other leaders or future leaders in the county,” she said.
Cybulski said LEADERship’s adult programs take them to graduates of the organization.
“It’s about opening relationships, and building avenues of collaboration among the adults in our county,” she said.
The organization’s mission holds a special place for Cybulski, she said.
“I am a transplant. I did not grow up here,” she said. “I am probably one of the county’s biggest cheerleaders. If someone asked me, ‘Should I move to Ashtabula County?’ I would emphatically say ‘Absolutely.'”
Cybulski said Ashtabula County offers a lot of natural beauty and community.
“It’s a large county, but a small community,” she said.