A unique program gives MATC employees who want management experience the confidence, knowledge and skills to be leaders
Woman teaching others how to be leaders
The way of Leadership
Helping people always came naturally to Janell Berry. At MATC, she discovered she can lead them as well. After graduating from high school, Berry planned on being a nurse. She took classes at MATC but stopped out. She returned to take business classes and earned an associate degree. Berry worked as a corporate trainer for 10 years. “I found out you can help people in all sorts of ways,” she said. In 2015, she took a job at the college’s call center and then became an academic advisor in 2020. Last fall she was among the first group of MATC employees to complete Emerging Leaders, a yearlong program that prepares full-time staff to be supervisors and managers. “The program was amazing,” Berry said. “The college has built a platform that teaches you how to be a leader anywhere. In the program, you learn so much about yourself professionally and personally. A lot of it was really eye-opening. I learned I have a voice, that my voice matters and that I can use it to bring about change.” Laquitha “Elle” Bonds-Jones, the college’s vice president of human resources, recognized that MATC needed to develop new leadership voices, like Berry’s. “This was a vision that has lived in my belly for 20 years,” Bonds-Jones said. Bonds-Jones envisioned an institute for existing leaders to sharpen their skills and then started to brainstorm with her team to create a program to train new leaders internally: Emerging Leaders. “If you wanted to move into a supervisory role at the college and didn’t have any experience, you had to leave the college to get that experience,” said Michelle Wild, the college’s director of training, development and credentialing. “We wanted to retain talent.” In the program, developed and led by Wild, participants complete 325 hours of developmental activities over a 12-month period. The training includes monthly workshops, application activities, learning from leaders on best practices, a 360-feedback assessment and completion of a six-month practicum to develop experience and confidence in supporting, engaging and driving high-performance teams. In the last six months of the program, participants work with a mentor who guides and supports their development. When they complete all the requirements, participants earn an Emerging Leaders credential, which serves as an equivalent to two years of supervisory experience that they can use to apply for positions at the college that require it. “We want participants to have the confidence, skills and experience they need to be in that role,” Wild said. “We developed something very accelerated and very robust.” The college launched Emerging Leaders in October 2023. The first cohort had 11 employees, including Berry, who were chosen from 44 applications. The second cohort began in October 2024, and the third started in October 2025. To participate in the program, employees must be full-time and have worked at MATC for at least two years. Interested employees submit a completed application, a resume and two letters of recommendation. Also, their current supervisors complete an approval form that assesses the employee’s strengths. Human resources staff score the applications and a committee of the MATC Executive Leadership Team reviews them to select the participants. Once selected, participants agree to complete all pre-work, attend all workshops and finish all coursework. Berry said she liked her job as an advisor but thought she could be doing even more to help students. “I always wondered how I could expand my impact beyond my office walls,” she said. She found out about Emerging Leaders, applied and was accepted. She learned how to have crucial conversations, how to navigate different working styles, how to give feedback, how to run effective meetings, and how to be transparent, authentic and accountable. At the same time she was working and participating in the program, she was finishing her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lakeland University. “I won’t lie; it was a lot of work,” she said. In October 2024, she was one of five participants who earned two years of supervisory experience. In February, Berry was one of three participants to be either promoted or reclassified, along with Peter Couto, who is now a supervisor in retention, and Megan Hamilton, who is now the manager of online learning. Participation in the program does not guarantee promotions, Wild cautioned. Berry now leads a team of 12 employees. Thanks to the program, she felt completely prepared to accept her new role. “The tool box of what you learn in Emerging Leaders is huge, and you will use all those tools,” she said. “MATC invested in me and gave me an education I can use my entire life. One of my goals now is to help someone get to where I am.”
Sarah's Journey to Leadership
Sarah Koch, a media designer in the college’s marketing and communications department, was in the program’s second cohort. She always wanted to manage people but didn’t have any experience. “Emerging Leaders was the opportunity I needed to gain that knowledge,” Koch said. “I enjoy the topics we are covering. And we put what we are learning into action. I’m so grateful for this opportunity.” MATC is the first and so far the only technical college in the state to have a leadership development program like this one, Bonds-Jones said. But that could soon change. Wild presented details of the program to the Wisconsin Technical College System’s Human Resources Leader Group, she said. “A lot of mouths dropped to the floor,” Bonds-Jones said. “Many of the colleges have been asking us for more information about it. We’re very, very proud of what we have been able to do with this program.”
We put what we are learning into action. I'm so grateful for this opportunity.
During an icebreaker activity, Christopher Mallas, a career development coach, described an object in a photo to his classmate so she could draw it.