Leadership Park City

Leadership Park City is now accepting applications for its 20th year class!  Deadline to apply is August 23, 2013. No exceptions, please. 

Schedule for Class XX, 2013-2014

The program consists of 10 individual sessions (attendance is mandatory) beginning in October, with approximately one session per month during the fall, winter and spring, a 5-day field trip during the late summer, and several social events.

What is Leadership Park City?
Leadership Park City is intended to identify, encourage and train a group of new or emerging community leaders. It is patterned after other successful community leadership programs around the country and the Kellogg National Leadership Program sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. These programs offer potential leaders an experiential, long-term, group-oriented learning opportunity. Their goal is to broaden and deepen the pool of community-based leaders, people who will dedicate themselves to accomplishing worthwhile community goals with a sense of vision, purpose, excitement and common good.

Leadership Park City class members are also required to envision, plan and bring to fruition a class service project that will benefit the Summit County community in some way. These projects have included public art, green building, wind power, trails development, youth leadership, water conservation, voter awareness, community walkability, public transit usage, reduction of plastic bag usage, head injury awareness, food sustainability, a campaign focused on civility among citizens in community and most recently, production of a brochure called the “L.O.C.A.L.” brochure (List of Community Agencies for Latinos). 

Purpose
Leadership Park City is a program designed to identify and train talented individuals to assume leadership roles. All those with a desire to learn more about the challenges facing the Park City community, who are interested in becoming involved, want to gain the personal and organizational tools to make better, more informed decisions, and who have a desire to lead . . . are encouraged to apply.
Leadership Park City will explore today's important community issues and introduce participants to top community leaders and thinkers.

Leadership Park City broadens participants' experiences by . . .
• Acquainting them with the programs, processes and problems currently existing within the community
• Stimulating their interest in community activities and encouraging their active participation in local affairs
• Providing access to a wide variety of community resources that would be difficult to access elsewhere
• Familiarizing participants with one another and with leaders in the community
• Giving participants valuable personal leadership tools
• Curriculum

Experts on public policy, politics and critical thinking help participants frame community issues and discuss potential solutions. Lectures, group discussions, field trips and experiential "hands on" learning is used throughout the program.

Leadership Park City is designed as a yearlong program. Ten individual sessions are scheduled, with a combination of full-day, half-day and evening programs. A multi-day field trip is also an integral part of the program. Most sessions last 6 hours.

The curriculum features:
• Group Building & Problem Solving
• Community Overview, Orientation & History
• Local Government, Legal & Infrastructure
• Planning, Development & Growth Management Issues
• Tourism & Economic Development
• Issues Forums: Affordable Housing, Environment, Open Space, Recreation, Arts and others
• Diversity Training
• Ethical Leadership
• Community Organizations & Citizen Participation
• Leadership Skill Training: Motivation, Empowerment, Conflict Resolution, Communication
• Diversity Training
• Field Trip: Experiential Learning
• Class Service Project benefitting the Summit County community in some way
• Participants will be given background materials and other pertinent information on the issues.

Criteria
The purpose of Leadership Park City is to train new and emerging community leaders (individuals wishing to stretch themselves and embrace the wider Park City community), therefore the selection process encourages motivated individuals representing diverse segments of the community to apply. No prior formal leadership experience is necessary. Anybody living or working within the Park City School District is eligible, and wider Summit County participation is also encouraged. There is no age limit. A maximum of 32 participants is selected for the program each year.
The selection committee, made up of representatives from the sponsoring organizations and several members from the community at large, evaluate all applications. A short written application form, including an essay and references, is the primary basis for selection. Each candidate is evaluated on the basis of:
• Level of interest in the community
• Self-motivation and desire to participate
• Aspirations to serve in leadership roles
• Strong likelihood of remaining in the community for at least 3 years
• Endorsement from references and/or sponsors
• Strong commitment to the program. Those accepted must agree in writing to attend and fully participate in 100% of all scheduled activities
• Work history and current position or activities

Costs
Each participant is awarded a scholarship to cover the costs of the program. Scholarships are made possible through the generosity of the listed sponsoring organizations.

Class XIX Members

Leadership Park City Alumni

Leadership Park City, Your Virtual Mentor
What is leadership?  The concept of "leadership" is a complex issue.  It has been described as the "process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task."  Yet, definitions more inclusive of followers have also emerged.  In fact, a review of the comprehensive theory of leadership takes days simply to browse throughout the numerous titles of books, articles, and a study of the authors.  Therefore, an introduction to this entire concept is in order.  Read more

Leadership Park City, Your Virtual Mentor, Quarterly Update: June 30, 2011
Research on leadership never ends just as available literature on the subject continues to be written. This search engine offers quarterly installments of recently composed or discovered information on or about leadership. As in ?Your Virtual Mentor,? the main body of literature involving leadership, each quarterly addition will cover books, articles found in various publications – both hard copy and online, as well as other appropriate data on the subject.  Read more

Leadership Park City, Your Virtual Mentor, Quarterly Update: September 30, 2011
This is the second in a series of updates for Your Virtual Mentor - A Theory of Leadership Search Engine.  Noting that this month of October Leadership Park City is holding an exhibit of Leadership-related reading materials at the Park City Library, we have also included books that are already available at the library.  Read more

Leadership Park City, Your Virtual Mentor, Quarterly Update:  December 31, 2011
The best leaders are not the "follow me over the hill" type, says Harvard Business School Professor Bill George. Rather, they're the people who lead from the heart as well as the head, and whose leadership style springs from their fundamental character and values.  Read more