Leadership Loudoun is a Good Way to Make Connections

A few years ago, I was involved in conducting a nationwide search to fill a key position in Leesburg. Our leading candidate and her husband would be moving from out of state, and since her husband was interested in securing a teaching position, it would be very helpful if I had any job leads for him to pursue.

I happened to know someone in a position of authority at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC), whom I had gotten to know years earlier through our involvement with the Leadership Loudoun program. Because of this connection, I was able to help arrange an interview which eventually led to a teaching job for our recruit’s husband.

Making connections like this was not foremost in my mind when I applied to go through the Leadership Loudoun program in 1994. However, it turned out to be one of the most valuable benefits of the program.

Leadership Loudoun was started in 1991 by the Loudoun Volunteer Center, which was then a part of the , in partnership with the Loudoun County Government, Virginia Tech Institute of Community Leadership, and Loudoun Chamber of Commerce.

According to the organization’s website, Leadership Loudoun’s mission is to develop and engage current and emerging leaders to work together to serve the good of Loudoun County. Many graduates of the program are active in Loudoun County, and serve on boards, commissions and committees, and volunteer with area non-profits and community organizations.

Since the program began, 455 people have completed the nine-month Leadership Loudoun program and become members of the organization. Class members identify, develop and hone their leadership skills by working with classmates to conduct forums on important local issues, and by completing community impact projects that benefit the community.

The class of 2011, which included 20 participants from the private, public and non-profit sectors, organized forums entitled The Unexpected Faces of Homelessness, the Cultural Continuum of Loudoun County, Cyber Bullying in the Social Networks/Media, and Loudoun Youth Issues and Impact.

The class’s community impact projects included creating a survey for Baby Boomers on the kinds of things in which they would like to participate during their retirement years, developing processes and forms for awarding financial assistance to families and individuals in need, and exploring partnerships throughout the county to increase opportunities to buy local products.

I enrolled in Leadership Loudoun in 1994 more for professional reasons than for personal development. Because of a reorganization of the county government, the Volunteer Center was slated to move from the Extension Office to the , under my supervision.  As I result, I would be supervising the staff members who provided support to Leadership Loudoun, and I wanted to experience the program first-hand to find out what it was all about.

After graduating from the program as a member of the Class of1995, I often told many people that going through Leadership Loudoun was one of the best things I had done since moving to Leesburg five years earlier. Most of my friends at that time had been my co-workers at the county government. My job and my family, which included three young children, then consumed most of my time, energy and attention.

At that point in time, however, I was ready to become more involved in the community. Through Leadership Loudoun, I met people from many different walks of life – local businesses, nonprofits, churches, and governmental agencies. I later served for over a decade on the Leadership Loudoun Board of Directors, and continued to supervise the program staff until I left the county government last year. 

My experience with Leadership Loudoun greatly broadened my perspective on local issues and organizations and, more importantly, widened my circle of friends and acquaintances. A quick look at my current lists of friends and connections on social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn reveals a surprisingly high number of people whom I have gotten to know over the years through Leadership Loudoun.

Over the past year, Leadership Loudoun and the county government parted ways. Although the county remains a partner in the program, the organization now provides its own staff, using revenues generated through tuition, membership dues, and fundraising.

Leadership Loudoun is currently accepting applications for its class of 2011-2012. I highly recommend this experience for anyone interested in learning more about the county, developing leadership skills, and networking with other local leaders.