Many Chambers of Commerce and Cooperative Extension Councils have realized the importance of cultivating local leadership for the long-term success of their community. The strategy of “waiting for a leader to come along”, or “hoping someone steps up” isn’t really a strategy at all.  Many Chambers of Commerce, Cooperative Extension, and other institutions are crafting community leadership development programs to purposefully cultivate leadership and expand the depth of the leadership pool across the Commonwealth.

While Chamber of Commerce programs are often designed to align with their mission of improving the economic environment for businesses and residents, many of the Cooperative Extension programs have historically focused on educating specific audiences of youth, families, or industry (Agricultural Leadership, for example). However, both of these program types intend to grow the capacity of residents to engage in leadership in their communities.

To support the work of community-based leadership programs, the Kentucky Community Leadership Network was formed. The Kentucky Community Leadership Network recognizes that programming to improve community leadership happens across program types. We recognize that leading in public often requires a different set of skills and approaches. When working across community sectors, effective public leadership needs to understand approaches and strategies that allow for broad engagement to address differing interests, attitudes and needs.

Building from the success of both Extension and Chamber programs, the Toolkit provides example materials or “tools” to support local programs in their leadership capacity building programs. We hope that you will find value in these educational resources to support the development of attitudes, skills, and processes needed for effective community leadership.