In south Georgia, rural Berrien County found it difficult to start a leadership program, while neighboring Cook County felt its leadership program needed an update.
With the help of a leadership initiative through the University of Georgia, the two counties have teamed up to build leaders in both communities through an innovative new program.
The counties received support from the UGA J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development through the institute’s Innovations in Community Leadership Initiative to develop the Leadership in Neighboring Communities program.
In the program, adults from Cook and Berrien counties come together to develop their personal leadership skills and further strengthen networks between the already closely aligned communities.
“We struggled to find the resources to support a yearly program in our county alone, so this was a natural course of events for us to start a unified program,” said Lisa Smart, executive director of the Berrien County Chamber of Commerce.
Cook County faced similar challenges with its existing program, said Heather Green, executive director of the Adel-Cook County Chamber of Commerce.
“We used the Fanning Institute’s curriculum for years but decided we needed to update the curriculum, so we reached out to UGA and spoke with Lisa about joining forces,” Green said. “It’s great for our participants to see what each community offers, but to partner with the university is a huge benefit.”
Launched in 2020 by the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, the Innovations in Community Leadership Initiative provides technical expertise and resources to support communities and organizations in starting or enhancing leadership development programming.
Partnering with the UGA Fanning Institute makes a difference in multiple ways, Green said.
“Using Fanning faculty to facilitate and guide the program takes it to the next level for us,” Green said. “When you say that you have professionals…
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