Leadership program comes to town

MEEKER I Together with the Meeker Chamber of Commerce, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) will host a leadership training class in Meeker in 2012.
The leadership training curriculum that will be used was created by the Ford Institute for Community Building, an initiative of the Ford Family Foundation in collaboration with the Heartland Institute. By special permission from the Ford Family Foundation, RCAC is able to bring this curriculum to rural communities in its 13 western states service area. The curriculum provides important learning experience for leaders to expand their knowledge and skills to become more effective at working together with diverse people to create positive change that reflects their values. 
The leadership class content is structured to building a “learning network” of community leaders and effective organizations so that, together, they can respond to issues and opportunities in their community and region.
The curriculum was designed with five assumptions.
n Leaders can be made, and good leaders can be made better;
n Leadership in the community is almost always about relationships, about engaging others;
n New knowledge and skill about leadership must be applied to an immediate, real community project;
n Positive attitudes, strong self-esteem, and community pride are part of leadership; and
n Much of being an effective leader comes from knowing oneself.
The curriculum will be delivered in partnership with the Rural Development Initiatives (RDI), an Oregon based non-profit community development organization. RDI has conducted the leadership training class in more than 20 communities in Oregon and Siskiyou County of northern California communities. RDI and RCAC trainers will conduct the leadership class. RCAC trainer will be Jay Mashburn rural development specialist.
The plan is to conduct 16 modules of training programs over four weekends in the first four months of 2012 covering:
Weekend 1:  Jan. 20-21 – Getting started, team building, appreciative inquire and project criteria
Weekend 2:  Feb. 17-18 – Leadership skills and process
Weekend 3:  March 16-17 – Leadership class project
Weekend 4:  April 13-14 – Networks, resources and relationships
Classes will be held at the ERBM Recreation Center. Friday afternoon classes will run from 1-7 p.m. Saturday classes will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meals will be provided. If you can’t attend all class sessions, the instructor and fellow classmates will work to keep you involved with the classes.
Applications must be received by the Meeker Chamber of Commerce by Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. If you have any questions, please contact the Meeker Chamber of Commerce’s Katelin Cook at 970-878-5510 or RCAC’s Jay Mashburn at 970-243-7087.