Leadership San Juan Islands Class V begins January 2009

Leadership San Juan Islands announces that preparation for Class V has started. Leadership San Juan Islands is a county-wide program which fosters leadership skills such as facilitation, collaborative problem solving, and public speaking as well as the analysis of local systems related to governance, economics, social services, history and culture, education and the environment. Participants are selected in the fall and spend five months together, January through May, with a staff of four and many regional leaders.

August 5, 2008 2:17 am

Leadership San Juan Islands announces that preparation for Class V has started. Leadership San Juan Islands is a county-wide program which fosters leadership skills such as facilitation, collaborative problem solving, and public speaking as well as the analysis of local systems related to governance, economics, social services, history and culture, education and the environment. Participants are selected in the fall and spend five months together, January through May, with a staff of four and many regional leaders.

Businesses and agencies across the County played a part in the success of the Class IV and the program appreciated significant donations by Smuggler’s Villa and Heartwood House on Orcas, and Lopez Islander Bay Resort on Lopez. Many Class IV participants were sponsored in part or wholly by their employer or by a local nonprofit. The 2008 program was generously supported by the following sponsors: Hospice of San Juan, St. David’s Episcopal Church, San Juan Prevention Coalition, Spring Street International School, San Juan County Community Network, San Juan Island School District, San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, San Juan County Fair Board, Friends of the San Juans, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lopez Island Family Resource Center and the San Juan Initiative. Institutional co-sponsors were Skagit Valley College by providing space for the program and staff time, and the San Juan County Economic Development Council provided administrative support.

LSJI will be following a similar timetable as last year: the deadline for applications in early-November. Applicants will be informed of acceptance late November and a short preview meeting is being planned prior to the retreat in late January. Six Challenge Days, another retreat on Lopez, and hopefully another nautical adventure will bring the program to graduation at the end of May 2009. Tuition of $500 will remain the same.

If you are interested in participating, sponsoring, or getting more information about this dynamic Leadership program, please contact Cynthia Stark-Wickman at 370-5470 or at the LSJI website: www.leadershipsanjuanislands.org/.