Job Swap Helps to Develop Leaders

A job swap in the Director’s Office at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) is helping to develop U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leaders as part of the Advanced Leadership Development Program (ALDP). Although NCTC hosts the classroom sessions for the program, the primary learning environment is within the organization itself. Sarah Gannon-Nagle, strategic communication and outreach manager at NCTC, is completing a temporary 30-day ALDP assignment in California, while Stewart Jacks is temporarily working as the communication manager at NCTC for his ADLP assignment.

Jacks has worked 24 years for the Service, with the last 14 years as a project leader for the Arizona Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. He earned a Master of Science Degree at Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He and his wife Lynnis of 23 years have raised two sons, Sheldon and Ethan, who attend Baker University in eastern KS. Jacks enjoys spending time with his family and participating in all kinds of outdoor activities, but especially likes hiking, cutting firewood, fishing, and hunting. Jacks was born in Madill, OK, where his childhood experiences on a ranch gave him his start in natural resources.

Participants in this 160-hour course are selected by a merit selection process within the regions. Later in the program, students will also complete a 60-day developmental detail, which will be used to explore leadership in the day-to-day environment of the Service. Gannon-Nagle and Jacks will return to their respective positions near the end of November.

 -- published --  October 31, 2012
 -- photo credit --  USFWS

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