BRIEF HISTORY OF LEADERSHIP MONTGOMERY

Founded in 1984, the purpose of Leadership Montgomery is to inform and develop community leaders through an intensive nine-month leadership curriculum; to provide these leaders an opportunity to network and get to know each other on a personal level; and to provide them an in depth look at many of the most important issues facing our community.

To date Leadership Montgomery has graduated twenty-three classes, and almost 800 alumni. Class membership is open to those who have demonstrated leadership in civic, religious, neighborhood, or professional endeavors. Course requirements include attendance at an orientation and an overnight retreat and participation in nine monthly class sessions.

Involvement in Leadership Montgomery begins with participation in the class. Once class members graduate, they become part of an alumni organization, where they are afforded an opportunity to continue their involvement through service on the Board of Directors or on standing committees. Additionally, throughout the year members are invited to participate in continuing education programs featuring guest speakers on timely issues, as well as a variety of social events.

One of the hallmarks of the Leadership Montgomery experience is the strong bonds of friendship that form as a result of learning, sharing and working together. The relationships formed over the years have been the basis of the beginnings for many of our city's most successful organizations. Among them have been Envision 2020, Success by 6, Camp Sunshine, the Montgomery Education Foundation, and BONDS.

THE EARLY YEARS
During the beginning years, Leadership Montgomery was sponsored by the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce and had three governing bodies, a board of trustees, a steering committee, and an alumni organization. However, the structure of Leadership Montgomery was revised in 1989 to reflect its growth and development, and it is now governed by a single Board of Directors, has its own office, and functions as an independent non-profit organization.

In the early years of Leadership Montgomery, the class size was limited to 30 participants. However, beginning with class XVI, the class size was increased to 40. Throughout the history of the program, when selecting its class members, the Class Selection Committee was committed to mirroring the demographics of the community. Consideration has always been given to balancing the classes ethnically, religiously, and by gender, thus providing opportunities for people of different backgrounds, experiences, and interests to get to know each other on a personal level. The end result for each class is the development of mutual understanding and respect for classmates whom they likely would not have gotten to know had it not been for the Leadership Montgomery experience.

LEADERSHIP MONTGOMERY'S LONG RANGE PLAN
In 2005 Leadership Montgomery developed a Long Range Plan to ensure that we keep in tune with an ever-changing river region. One of the developments of the plan was the adoption of a new vision statement.connecting leaders to effect change, which has become the foundation of the existence of the current Leadership Montgomery initiatives.