History

A History of Community Leadership

The critical moment in the history of community-based leadership programs occurred African Americans and caucasions collided in the streets of Philadelphia in the late 1950s. In the hope of re-building a fractured community following the race riots, Philadelphia launched the first leadership program in 1959 called Leadership, Inc. The program continues to this day and graduates more than 100 new leaders each year.

Other American cities dealing with the social unrest of the ’60s recognized that responsible, collaborative leadership was necessary to build healthy communities.

Today there are more than 700 community leadership programs around the world, and although each program bears the stamp of the issues and concerns facing the individual city, each endeavors to:

Identify and nurture potential leaders
Develop networks of people who can work together to address community challenges
Instill a sense of community trusteeship among potential leaders.

These experiential programs expose participants to the history and make-up of their own communities so that when armed with this community insight, they can act in the communities best interests. They give participants community leadership skills so they gain experience in ways to mobilize people, cultivate common ground and build teams. They instill a philosophy of community trusteeship that acts as the foundation for everything the participants do and learn.

A History of Calgary's Community Leadership Program

Leadership Calgary was initiated in 1998 when the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation approached Calgary to start up a community leadership program. The Foundation provided $65,000 in seed money provided matching funds could be generated within our community. The Calgary Foundation, Volunteer Calgary, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and the United Way stepped up to the plate.

In the fall of 1999 23 adults from the Corporate, Government and Non-profit sectors joined the first Leadership Calgary Class and participated in the 10-month program with graduation of the first class happening in June of 2000. Since then, over 310 Calgarians have completed the program.

In 2004 Leadership Calgary became a member of the Canadian Community Leadership Network (CCLN) - a national network supporting 22 cities across the country that host community leadership development programs.

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