Jessie Mattingly grew up in a small town in Missouri. He moved to Ottumwa in 2008 to attend Indian Hills Community College and later Buena Vista University to study Accounting and Finance. Jessie joined the Ottumwa Leadership Academy as an Operational Project Specialist with Ajinomoto but has recently been promoted to Production Supervisor. He has already seen the impacts of the Academy in his new role. He shared, “O.L.A. has allowed me to learn from others in higher roles and have one on one conversations on topics that help me grow as a newer leader. My goal in my career life is always to surround myself with people smarter than I am. I always want to learn, and with O.L.A., I’ve been given another path for learning.”
His children inspired Mattingly’s initial application to participate in the Ottumwa Leadership Academy. “I have four children, and we want to raise them here. With saying that, I realized we knew very little about Ottumwa. A coworker told me about O.L.A., and it sounded like something that would be very beneficial.” The class has lived up to the expectation, he said. “O.L.A. has opened my eyes to all the great things that Ottumwa has, and that is happening. For example, the Human, Community, & Health Services day motivated me once I learned more about the impact mental health has on individuals and how Ottumwa has so many support systems.”
Jessie’s top CliftonStrengths, Achiever, Context, Analytical, Self-Assurance, and Restorative are a perfect reflection of who he is as a leader, he said. He is looking forward to continuing to learn about the community in upcoming Academy sessions and is eager for State Government Day when the class will travel to the Capitol in Des Moines.
