Linsey Gleason of Varnum with boyfriend Jordan Gougeon at the event
PHOTO COURTESY OF LINSEY GLEASON
by Cynthia Price
Legal News
Varnum attorney Linsey Gleason has been on a roll lately, and for good reason.
Named as one of the Forty under 40, chosen for Leadership Grand Rapids in 2013, and the subject of several recent media and philanthropic community profiles (including as one of the “100 New Philanthropists” of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation), Gleason contributes to her community in so many ways it is hard to keep track.
The latest recognition comes in the form of the Create GReat Award from the Center for Community Leadership (CCL), a division of the Grand Rapids area Chamber of Commerce.
The award recognizes those who give back to the community “for exceptional work that makes Grand Rapids a community of uncommon greatness.”
Gleason comments, “This is the first year that this specific award has been given out, so there’s not much history. I get the impression it’s intended for someone who’s been really involved in the community and who’s trying to live out the lessons learned through the Center for Community Leadership and Leadership Grand Rapids.”
She adds, “It was quite the honor to share the stage with Milt Rohwer. I think he is one of the most amazing humans I know.”
Rohwer, formerly the president of the Frey Foundation as well as of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce for 12 years and The Right Place from 1985-1987, was given the Distinguished Community Trustee Award for his “continuous engagement” with the Grand Rapids community over a long career.
He was also instrumental in developing Leadership Grand Rapids, an experience that Gleason says she is found incredibly useful and practical. She has continued her connections through staying involved with CCL.
“Linsey was selected by a group of her peers for the work she has done with Senior Neighbors, Gilda's Club, and
the Public Museum,” said Kim McLaughlin, Vice President of Member and Community Enrichment for the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, in a statement.
As impressive a that list is, it is far from all that Gleason has done for the greater Grand Rapids community. She also serves on the Finance and Audit Committee of Heart of West Michigan United Way, as a cabinet member for Laughfest (which benefits the aforementioned Gilda’s Club), and is a member of the Grand Rapids Economics Club.
Her leadership very much extends to her estate planning career at Varnum as well. A member of the Western Michigan Planned Giving Group and Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, Gleason’s practice includes full service estate plan preparation, estate and trust administration, guardianship/conservatorship services, elder law advice and special needs trusts. She has been named a Michigan Rising Star every year since 2010.
She has also been very active in the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Western Region, serving as president in 2011-2012.
Her life has taken her from a cozy upbringing in the “nice small town” of Montague into nearly every corner of the globe. She has been to most Central American and some South American countries, as well as India, Turkey, and several others — 37 countries in all. “My goal in life is to have gone to more countries than I am years old,” Gleason says with a brief laugh. “I love to travel.”
She received the Create GReat award at the annual dinner for the CCL held May 5, which also raises funds for scholarships to the CCL’s leadership training programs. CCL also honored LINC UP, the community organization which started out as the affording housing organization Lighthouse Communities 16 years ago and is now a community revitalization agency, with its Uncommon Greatness Award.
Gleason got to know LINC UP’s co-executive director Darel Ross during a pilot leadership program the CCL held called East Meets West, where leaders from the Detroit and Grand Rapids areas learned from each other through visits to both the cities.
Gleason comments, “The dinner was so much fun, really high energy. We’re people with the same passions for community work, and we’re always really excited to get together.” In fact, it was one of her leadership colleagues, Taggart Town, Vice-President of Erhardt Construction, who nominated her for the award.
“It’s great catching up on what everyone is doing. This is not really a group that just sits idol,” she adds.
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