LEE COUNTY - Lee County CEO, the first CEO program in the state of Iowa, has hired a Lee County native as the facilitator, Kaci DeSpain from Keokuk. The program kicks off in August and 20 students have been accepted through a blind application process to participate together from Central Lee, Fort Madison and Keokuk high schools.
Throughout the 2024-25 school year, Lee County CEO will take local students out of the classroom and into local businesses to meet with community leaders, be exposed to more than 100 guest speakers, and be provided mentors that will coach the students through the process of starting and running a real business, which culminates in a trade show in the spring.
“CEO will teach the students professional communication skills in actual business settings and I am excited to see their excitement develop throughout the class,” DeSpain said. “I am especially looking forward to watching the transformation of the kids from the start of the class to the end of the school year and see their professional personalities and skills develop.”
DeSpain is the operations manager of The Hidden Tower and The Lab located in Keokuk, Iowa, which includes an event center and sports gym, and she is also a coach in Lee County. DeSpain graduated from Keokuk High School in 2017, then attended Luther College where she played basketball and served as captain while she earned a bachelor's degree in Business Management. She then earned her masters in business administration from Maryville University in 2022. She previously worked in marketing at Quincy Medical Group and then in finance at Barnett Financial Partners, before founding and launching her current businesses with her family in Lee County. She is also an avid Iowa Hawkeye sports fan.
“CEO is something that I really wish that I would have had while I was going to high school to develop my business skills,” DeSpain said. “I am looking forward to helping the CEO students learn and develop alongside me, while I continue to learn about running a business in Lee County.”
Midland Institute, the founding company of Lee County CEO, said a huge transformation of the students is to be expected and that at the beginning of the year the cohort is made up of high school students, but by the end of the year they are all young professionals.
The CEO program is an accredited entrepreneurship education course available to juniors and seniors from Central Lee, Fort Madison, Holy Trinity and Keokuk high schools in Lee County. The role of the CEO facilitator in the program is to facilitate the learning environment that the students experience and collaborate with the local board to ensure program essentials are being met. DeSpain recently completed the facilitator training provided by Midland. In the facilitator role, she will encourage students to explore and discover new skills, as well as push themselves through the real-world learning activities, while supporting curiosity and encouraging problem solving.
“We are beyond excited to bring this opportunity to students in Lee County and are proud to be the first CEO program in Iowa,” Dr. Kathy Dinger, Lee County CEO board chair and Keokuk Community School District superintendent, said. “This is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn more about their communities from business and civic leaders and develop business and networking skills that will live long past their high school experience.”
For more information about the Lee County CEO Program, go to leecountyceo.com.
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