This year’s Excellence in Leadership awardees were honored at a Rise managers’ retreat in December. They were nominated by their fellow co-workers who had to say this about them:

Kim Sorenson (left), program supervisor for Rise’s Adult Day Program – New Brighton, has proven to be a true leader among the Adult Day Program staff. She creates an exciting work environment and collaborates effectively with community partners and support teams.

Setting high expectations for herself and her teammates, Kim highlights her team members’ gifts and talents to enhance services.

Kim models excellence in all that she does. She plans meaningful, creative activities and sees to it that people served by Rise are well-integrated into the New Brighton Community Center.

Encouraging her team to go above expectations, Kim continually builds mutually beneficial relationships.

Samantha Trebtoske (middle), program supervisor at Rise Crystal has put her considerable energy into driving and embracing many huge program changes and implementing the change from vocational to life enrichment services at Rise Crystal this past year.

She educated team members and set the tone for culture change. She establishes clear goals for team members and worked hard to ensure the team’s success.

Samantha is known for and appreciated by her fellow teammates for her offering a free exchange of ideas and taking a positive approach in designing inclusive programming and rewarding  their innovation.

Samantha’s co-workers find her to be organized, educated, thoughtful and innovative. They especially enjoy her wonderful sense of humor and boundless energy.

Austin Beatty (right), MEC St. Paul program supervisor, demonstrates Rise’s Standards of Excellence on a daily basis. His management style is person-centered, collaborative,  and was developed over many years of working in the field. He works effectively with peer agencies, most notably in the DeafBline community.

Austin trusts and respects his team members and encourages them to develop innovative ideas to improve Rise services.

Austin carefully matches the team member who is best suited for each individual served. He inspires others through his own actions by incorporating new technologies to be more efficient and make services more accessible.

In addition, Austin is a strong leader who has both the technical skills and the human services ‘heart.’ He is a great mentor and ensures that team members are recognized and feel appreciated for their good work.

Hearty congratulations to Kim, Samantha, and Austin!

This article appears in the March 2020 issue of the Rise Reporter.