Leadership Lexington
PRESENTED BY:
ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
Leadership Lexington has been operating as the premiere leadership development program for professionals in the greater Lexington area for more than 40 years. With a competitive application and selection process, the program allows just fifty class members annually. Leadership Lexington consists of ten, informative day-sessions which are organized and hosted by local leaders. These day sessions help to broaden perspectives and provide an increased understanding of community dynamics, signature industries, and public issues. Each class completes up to four community-based projects during the duration of the program. Projects are pitched and selected by the program participants at an immersive opening retreat. |
MISSION: The program gives participants the opportunity to better understand our city and to prepare for the challenges it faces by meeting with and learning from today’s leaders. Leadership Lexington is an educational opportunity that broadens perspectives and allows participants to gain increased understanding of community dynamics and public issues.
Applications for the 2024-2025 program are open now. The application window closes Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
For more information about the Leadership Lexington program check out the FAQs below or contact Lynda Bebrowsky at (859) 226-1611.
For more information about the Leadership Lexington program check out the FAQs below or contact Lynda Bebrowsky at (859) 226-1611.
Who is eligible to apply?
Applicants must be employed by firms or organizations that are active members of Commerce Lexington. Non-employed community volunteers may also apply.
What is the time commitment to participate?
Leadership Lexington is an eleven-month program that starts with an overnight Orientation Retreat in August (Tentatively scheduled for August 1-2, 2024 at Boone Tavern in Berea. The program then consists of one full-day session lasting eight hours, once a month from September until June. The Orientation retreat is mandatory.
Class participants are required to attend 80% of the day sessions in order to ‘graduate’ from the program.
Each year the class will complete up to four community projects. Project work is typically completed outside of the day sessions, which makes the Leadership Lexington experience a significant time commitment.
Class participants are required to attend 80% of the day sessions in order to ‘graduate’ from the program.
Each year the class will complete up to four community projects. Project work is typically completed outside of the day sessions, which makes the Leadership Lexington experience a significant time commitment.
What is the timeline for applications?
Applications open on April 15 and close by end of business on May 15. Applicants will be notified by the end of June on acceptance.
Apply here.
Apply here.
What goes into the selection process?
Once the application window closes, a Steering Committee comprised of Leadership Lexington Alumni score the applications. The program is incredibly competitive, receiving more than 100 applications annually. Multiple steering committee members score each application based on applicant background, leadership experience, reason for participation, personal insights, and letters of support. Once all applications are scored, the committee compiles the applications in order of highest to lowest score and discuss any discrepancies in scoring. The class is selected by a combination of the scores given and the discussion that follows.
The makeup of each year’s class is intended to reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of our city.
Typically, only one individual from each organization will be accepted per year.
The makeup of each year’s class is intended to reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of our city.
Typically, only one individual from each organization will be accepted per year.
How much does it cost?
Program cost is $2,000.
MEMBER TESTIMONIAL: |
Hear more about the impact Leadership Lexington from past participants.
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MEMBER TESTIMONIAL: |
Leadership Lexington Application Tutorial
Learn from Selection Committee members about what they are looking for when they score Leadership Lexington applications. This video will provide guidance for you on each section of the application as well as answering general questions we often receive from applicants.
Learn from Selection Committee members about what they are looking for when they score Leadership Lexington applications. This video will provide guidance for you on each section of the application as well as answering general questions we often receive from applicants.
2023-24 PROGRAM SPONSORS:
PRESENTED BY:
PLATINUM SPONSORS:
Attention Leadership Lexington Alums: Help Us Stay Connected to You
The Leadership Lexington Alumni Association is ramping up! In order to make this association a success, we need all alums to send in any updated contact information. If you are a graduate of Leadership Lexington, please send your updated information via e-mail to Dawn Pope. Find out more at www.leadershiplexingtonalumni.com.
The Leadership Lexington Alumni Association is ramping up! In order to make this association a success, we need all alums to send in any updated contact information. If you are a graduate of Leadership Lexington, please send your updated information via e-mail to Dawn Pope. Find out more at www.leadershiplexingtonalumni.com.
LATEST SESSION: People, Culture & Community Day Provides Great Perspective
Recap by Eric Lindsey, Kentucky Blood Center
To think members of the 2023-24 Leadership Lexington class weren’t experiencing anxieties heading into an important discussion about diversity on Feb. 11 for Leadership Lexington’s “People, Culture and Community Day” would be naïve. In a class of more than 50 leaders in the Lexington community who come from different workplaces, who hail from different backgrounds, who look different, feel different and have walked their own unique path, everyone knew there would be challenging dialogue ahead.
Al Cornish, Chief Learning Officer at Closing the Gap Consulting, wasted no time diving in with the group. “We do not live in a culture where everything is equal,” Cornish said. “We all experience things in different ways.”
Perspective was important on a day in which the class heard from leaders throughout the community. Cornish set the table by emphasizing that people experience diversity in different ways. There are obvious internal dimensions that many of us think of, Cornish said – race, gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity and physical ability – but there are other layers that define one’s experience: everything from personality; to external dimensions like income, religion and geographic location; to organization dimensions like seniority, managerial status and one’s work field.
As Cornish explained, intersectionality creates a complexity of discrimination issues, and the goal of the day was for LL participants to understand ways they can better relate to the diversity challenges they face in everyday life and become more inclusive leaders through cognizance, courage, commitment, collaboration, cultural intelligence and curiosity.
Cornish walked the group through key community definitions, most notably the difference between equality (the right of different groups of people to have a similar social position and receive the same treatment) and equity (the situation in which everyone is treated fairly and equally). Showing a video called the “Privilege Walk” illustrated the social advantages, benefits, and degrees of prestige and respect that an individual may have by virtue of belonging to certain social identity groups.
Cornish paved the way for Glenn Means, Director of LGBTQ+ Resources at the University of Kentucky. Means conveyed the importance of safe zones by asking the group to share stereotypes it has grown up with surrounding the LGBTQ+ community. Means explained to the class that sexuality, gender expression and gender identity all intersect to make one who they are. Gender pronouns are common in today’s world, but Means contextualized them and why they are important: to show respect.
Nicole Tshibangu, a former refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Program Leader of Kentucky Refugee Ministries Lexington, captivated the class with her harrowing journey to the U.S. in 2014. Tshibangu experienced incredible hurdles in a new country, navigating workplace, childcare and housing challenges when English was a foreign language.
Leonel Ocasio Diaz from Fayette County Public Schools’ Multicultural Department drove home the anxiety and helpless feeling refugees like Tshibangu experience when he took the class through a teaching session in Spanish only. The class felt firsthand what it’s like to be in the shoes of a young refugee who is in a new country and doesn’t know English. The FCPS team, which works to connect with thousands of multicultural students who come into the school system every year, explained that learning best takes place when there is lower anxiety and higher confidence.
In the afternoon, class members engaged in a poverty simulation facilitated by Community Action. This simulation aimed to immerse participants in the experiences of families living below the poverty line. Participants assumed the roles of families facing poverty and were tasked with managing their finances and meeting basic needs on a limited budget. The simulation encouraged participants to collaborate with their "family" members and their community to navigate the challenges of poverty.
Throughout the simulation, participants encountered obstacles such as difficulty finding employment, managing family dynamics, and accessing essential services due to language barriers and lack of funding. Some families faced additional challenges, such as children dropping out of school to work or being sent to juvenile detention. Participants described the simulation as enlightening, challenging, eye-opening, and at times, seemingly impossible. It provided them with valuable insights into the daily struggles faced by families living in poverty.
Spearheaded by Tiffany Michelle Brown, Equity and Implementation Officer for Lexington Fayette Urban County Government, the Leadership Lexington class heard from members of LFUCG’s Racial Justice and Equity Commission to end a powerful day of open and honest dialogue, vulnerability and desire to change. Founded in 2020, 32 of the commission’s 54 recommendations have been adopted.
To think members of the 2023-24 Leadership Lexington class weren’t experiencing anxieties heading into an important discussion about diversity on Feb. 11 for Leadership Lexington’s “People, Culture and Community Day” would be naïve. In a class of more than 50 leaders in the Lexington community who come from different workplaces, who hail from different backgrounds, who look different, feel different and have walked their own unique path, everyone knew there would be challenging dialogue ahead.
Al Cornish, Chief Learning Officer at Closing the Gap Consulting, wasted no time diving in with the group. “We do not live in a culture where everything is equal,” Cornish said. “We all experience things in different ways.”
Perspective was important on a day in which the class heard from leaders throughout the community. Cornish set the table by emphasizing that people experience diversity in different ways. There are obvious internal dimensions that many of us think of, Cornish said – race, gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity and physical ability – but there are other layers that define one’s experience: everything from personality; to external dimensions like income, religion and geographic location; to organization dimensions like seniority, managerial status and one’s work field.
As Cornish explained, intersectionality creates a complexity of discrimination issues, and the goal of the day was for LL participants to understand ways they can better relate to the diversity challenges they face in everyday life and become more inclusive leaders through cognizance, courage, commitment, collaboration, cultural intelligence and curiosity.
Cornish walked the group through key community definitions, most notably the difference between equality (the right of different groups of people to have a similar social position and receive the same treatment) and equity (the situation in which everyone is treated fairly and equally). Showing a video called the “Privilege Walk” illustrated the social advantages, benefits, and degrees of prestige and respect that an individual may have by virtue of belonging to certain social identity groups.
Cornish paved the way for Glenn Means, Director of LGBTQ+ Resources at the University of Kentucky. Means conveyed the importance of safe zones by asking the group to share stereotypes it has grown up with surrounding the LGBTQ+ community. Means explained to the class that sexuality, gender expression and gender identity all intersect to make one who they are. Gender pronouns are common in today’s world, but Means contextualized them and why they are important: to show respect.
Nicole Tshibangu, a former refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Program Leader of Kentucky Refugee Ministries Lexington, captivated the class with her harrowing journey to the U.S. in 2014. Tshibangu experienced incredible hurdles in a new country, navigating workplace, childcare and housing challenges when English was a foreign language.
Leonel Ocasio Diaz from Fayette County Public Schools’ Multicultural Department drove home the anxiety and helpless feeling refugees like Tshibangu experience when he took the class through a teaching session in Spanish only. The class felt firsthand what it’s like to be in the shoes of a young refugee who is in a new country and doesn’t know English. The FCPS team, which works to connect with thousands of multicultural students who come into the school system every year, explained that learning best takes place when there is lower anxiety and higher confidence.
In the afternoon, class members engaged in a poverty simulation facilitated by Community Action. This simulation aimed to immerse participants in the experiences of families living below the poverty line. Participants assumed the roles of families facing poverty and were tasked with managing their finances and meeting basic needs on a limited budget. The simulation encouraged participants to collaborate with their "family" members and their community to navigate the challenges of poverty.
Throughout the simulation, participants encountered obstacles such as difficulty finding employment, managing family dynamics, and accessing essential services due to language barriers and lack of funding. Some families faced additional challenges, such as children dropping out of school to work or being sent to juvenile detention. Participants described the simulation as enlightening, challenging, eye-opening, and at times, seemingly impossible. It provided them with valuable insights into the daily struggles faced by families living in poverty.
Spearheaded by Tiffany Michelle Brown, Equity and Implementation Officer for Lexington Fayette Urban County Government, the Leadership Lexington class heard from members of LFUCG’s Racial Justice and Equity Commission to end a powerful day of open and honest dialogue, vulnerability and desire to change. Founded in 2020, 32 of the commission’s 54 recommendations have been adopted.
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