Barton: Leadership Centre County launches 30th Community Leadership Program

On Oct. 15, Leadership Centre County kicked off its 30th Community Leadership Program with an opening retreat at Krislund Camp & Retreat Center in Madisonburg.

Through a succession of 10 program days, held once a month throughout the program year, class participants in the Community Leadership Program are exposed to various aspects of the community to include history, health and human services, government and criminal justice, education, economy, arts, and environment. Participants also have the opportunity to cultivate communication skills and dialogue with community leaders. Class members are trained to work collaboratively for the good of the whole community, and Leadership graduates are better informed about issues, practiced at fruitful discourse, and inspired by provocative ideas and solutions. They are prepared to lead.

Forty-two individuals compose the Class of 2022, Leadership’s 5th largest cohort since the organization’s founding in 1992. These individuals represent five counties, 10 school districts, 22 municipalities, and an array of businesses and occupations, including higher education, private industry, local government, and nonprofit organizations. Class members were born across five decades, spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s.

More important now than ever before, our class needs to be diverse — including race, gender, age, profession, skill set, and where they call “home.” We are proud of the backgrounds and talents of our newest class members, and we’re even more proud about the differences between them. We take pride in the diversity of our past classes, and we’ll continue to work to be better.

To ensure class diversity, a committee of staff, program graduates, and volunteers are in charge of monitoring the geographic and demographic mix of applicants, focusing on underrepresented groups and regions to enhance the balance of each class.

One way to help ensure class diversity is through newly created Equity Scholarships. Thanks to the Truist Foundation and a generous gift of $13,530, Leadership has the opportunity to offer six full-tuition scholarships to class members within the next few years. Tuition for the Community Leadership Program is currently $2,255.

It is so important that we can provide individuals in our community equal opportunity to participate in our leadership development program. I never want our tuition fee to keep interested participants away from our program.

The Equity Scholarships are earmarked for individuals from our community who qualify based on one or more of the following; “staff members at local nonprofit organizations,” “Black and Indigenous people of color,” “low- to moderate-income individuals,” and/or “young professionals under the age of 30.”

Kashia Quay and Paul Richards are the Class of 2022’s Equity Scholarship recipients receiving full-tuition scholarships.

Quay represents Centre County hospitality and tourism, a sector hit particularly hard by the pandemic. She said, “I would love the opportunity to become more involved with the community and make a difference. I have had this program on my radar for the past several years, but the tuition fee, along with the pandemic, would not have allowed me to join this class. The tuition assistance is greatly appreciated!”

Richards was nominated for the Community Leadership Program by his friend and Class of 2021 graduate. He said, “I have lived in Centre County for the last six years and have found that I have not been as active in my community as I was prior to moving here. By joining Leadership Centre County this year, I hope to further develop my communication skills and become more relatable while building a professional network and becoming actively involved in the Centre Region. I’m thankful to the Truist Foundation for enabling me to begin this journey.”

To date, 1,051 people have completed the Community Leadership Program, our region’s premier leadership development program. To learn more or to apply for the next Community Leadership Program, visit www.leadershipcentrecounty.org.