Kickstand Blog

The Meg Carlson Leadership Award was recently created in honor of retiring board member Meg Carlson for her five years of exemplary service, which took Kickstand to new levels of membership, outreach and influence.  Carlson is cofounder of Carlson Hall, a business intermediary firm in Boise that assists clients in business merger, acquisition and business consulting services.

“Meg helped us evolve from a clutch of cronies to a vital element in our entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Chris Volk, immediate past President of Kickstand. “Her corporate experience, professionalism and vision for the future deserve to be acknowledged each year as we also recognize the board member who makes an outsized contribution to Kickstand and our mission, which is to help entrepreneurs network, learn and grow.”

This year’s award goes to Ben Quintana, Director of Public Relations and Leadership Development at Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce and founder of The Boise Young Professionals.

“Ben really stepped up to lead a couple of major initiatives and did a masterful job of directing a couple teams of busy volunteers,” Volk said. “We’ll keep him on the board as long as we can, but you will be hearing more about him in the months and years to come as we know he’s headed for bigger endeavors.”

Quintana will receive a copy of a new book by Boise leadership coach Phil Eastman of Leadership Advisors titled The Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age.  He will also receive a personal leadership assessment based on the book and a one-hour coaching session to create a character and leadership development plan.