Testing For Kurt

What is the Ford Institute Leadership Program?

The Ford Institute Leadership Program is an initiative of the Ford Institute for Community Building in collaboration with Rural Development Initiatives. The program consists of a sequence of five classes, three on Leadership Development and one each on Effective Organizations and Community Collaborations. All classes are held in the community and follow the sequence:

Sequence of Training in a Community:

• Year 1: Leadership Development
• Year 2: Effective Organizations
• Year 3: Leadership Development (2nd cohort)
• Year 4: Community Collaborations
• Year 5: Leadership Development (3rd cohort)

A different cohort of community members participates in each of the Leadership Development classes. The Effective Organizations and Community Collaborations are open to all community members and there is no limit on class size.

The program is available to communities under 30,000 populations in Oregon and Siskiyou County, Calif. not adjacent to or part of a metropolitan area. The Institute selects communities based on an internal process that looks for “readiness” – where the community is already demonstrating some success in working together for positive change, but would benefit from additional capacity building. The Institute has identified 80 such “hub” communities and intends to engage all interested communities by 2012. All will complete the 5-class sequence by 2016.

The Leadership Development curriculum contains 16 chapters, each addressing one or more leadership topics related to the community setting. The curriculum is intended to draw on the knowledge and skills of participants. Each chapter has specific instructional goals. Presentations and group activities are designed to help the participant recognize the value of his or her own experience, and to leave the course with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to be more effective as a community leader.