Leadership Asheville wrapped up its 28th class year with a graduation ceremony on May 19 at The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa for 36 program participants. Established in 1982, Leadership Asheville has graduated more than 1050 men and women who live, work and volunteer in the area. This community leadership development program provides participants an opportunity to strengthen their community leadership, deepen their commitment to the community, and discuss regional issues.

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The region’s foremost community leadership development organization, Leadership Asheville, is now accepting applications for the LA 29 Program. This nine-month program of study and service brings together people who care about issues affecting the community and share a concern for the region’s future. Program participants strengthen their community leadership, deepen their commitment to the community, and discuss issues in areas such as governance, education, economic development, and the environment.

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Leadership Asheville gathered Wednesday, September 16^th at Asheville’s new event space, The Venue, to discuss new community initiatives and partnerships, as well as honor both the graduated Class of 2009 and the incoming Class of 2010.

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May 27, 2009
Leadership Asheville Graduates Largest Class To Date

Representatives from Leadership Asheville’s Board of Trustees, Co-Chairs K. Ray Bailey and Richard Hurley were on hand at The Crest Center on May 20, 2009, to award diplomas to the largest graduating class to date.

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April 8, 2009
Leadership Asheville’s Class 27 Project Focus: Helping Shap Our Children and Youth

For close to three decades, Leadership Asheville’s acclaimed program has built a strong tradition of leadership development and community involvement. Utilizing lectures, discussions, work groups and service projects; the participants explore a variety of topics, ranging from the environment to education, and from local government to economic development.

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October 22 , 2008
Leadership Asheville Announces New Class

Earlier this fall UNC Asheville’s Leadership Program kicked off its 27th year with a dynamic nine-month program for local participants. The 62 members of Leadership Asheville 27 make up the biggest class in the program’s history.

For more than two decades, the acclaimed program has built a strong tradition of leadership development and community involvement. Utilizing lectures, discussions, work groups and service projects, the participants will explore a variety of topics, ranging from the environment to education, and from local government to economic development.

October 6, 2008
Leadership Program Reflects on 26 years of Evolution

Since beginning in 1982, Leadership Asheville has evolved from a small gathering of professionals that focused mainly on community education to a dynamic, multi-faceted program combining networking, education, discussion and hands-on community service. Its most recent class, the 26th, was the largest to date, with 47 graduates (nearly twice as many as the first class), and the 2008-2009 program is expected to max out at 70 participants.

Gerry Goertz, director since 2003, attributes Leadership Asheville’s growth to the speakers, educators and trainers who deliver sessions which are both informative and interactive. These sessions contribute significantly to a program that’s both personally meaningful and professionally valuable for every participant.

August 21, 2008
Asheville Initiative for Math Advisory Group Meeting

The mission of AIM is to enrich math education for K-12 students, teachers, parents and improve math literacy for all residents of Asheville and Buncombe County. There is no formal board or official membership for the advisory group. So, if you know of someone who should be at this meeting, including students, please invite them.

AIM is a collaborative effort of UNC Asheville, Warren Wilson College, AB Tech, Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools as well as the Chamber of Commerce, the YWCA and Mission Hospital.

The next AIM Advisory Group Meeting will be on September 11, 2008 from 6-8 pm at the home of Dr. Gretchen Whipple, Chair of the Mathematics Department at Warren Wilson College.  For details, contact Sam Kaplan in the Department of Math at UNC Asheville at 828-232-5192.

August 21, 2008

Asheville Foundation Listening Project
The Asheville City Schools Foundation is beginning a project entitled “Listening to Our Teens”, a year-long community wide effort to understand the needs, dreams, and challenges of our young teens.

We are looking to collect in-depth information through interviews of 200 students, family members, and community representatives. The information we receive will ultimately help us to serve our youth more effectively.

If you are intersted in volunteering or learning more, please contact Jilian Buckley, Listening Project Coordinator, at 828-350-6135 ext 5061.

August 8, 2008
Current Leadership Asheville Class Contributes to Community

The LA 26 Leadership Learning Teams are accomplishing great things for the community. Learn more about their service projects.

August 8, 2008
25th Anniversary Celebration

Thanks to everyone who joined us in the celebration of Leadership Asheville’s 25th Anniversary.
We are looking forward to creating the next 25 with you.

July 23, 2008
Join the Next Leadership Asheville Class

Interested in joining the nearly 1,000 graduates of Leadership Asheville? The LA 27 program will begin on September 17^th.

October 9, 2007
Leadership Asheville 25 participants recognized

The participants of Leadership Asheville 25 were recognized for their participation in the Leadership Asheville program in a special full page ad that ran in the Asheville Citizen-Times on October 9, 2007.

September 2007
Leadership Asheville 26 launched

Leadership Asheville 26 launched on September 19th and 20th with 49 participants.

March 14, 2006
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary, Leadership Asheville 25 to begin accepting applications.

Focused on developing community members with the leadership skills necessary to help the community identify a shared vision, resolve conflicts, and adapt to change, the 25th class of The Leadership Asheville Program will begin in September 2006. If you are interested in applying, please visit our Next Available Leadership Asheville Program Class link. Should you like to refer someone to us so that we may send them materials, please complete our referral form.

March 14, 2006
Mayor Terry Bellamy engages Leadership Asheville 24 participants in a discussion on the needs, assets, and direction of our community.

Mayor Terry Bellamy met with Leadership Asheville 24 program participants on February 8th. Mayor Bellamy discussed the collaborative working system that she will be utilizing while leading the Asheville City Council, her experiences in the Leadership Asheville 17 class, as well as what originally motivated her to run for public office. Bellamy has served on the Asheville City Council since 1999 and was inaugurated as Mayor in December of 2005. Mayor Bellamy’s dedication to our community is visible through her professional work at Mountain Housing Opportunities and her extensive volunteer work.

October 14, 2005
Virgil Smith, Publisher of the Asheville Citizen-Times, plays an active role in upcoming Leadership Asheville 24 meeting.

Dedicated to building productive leadership, participants at the November 9th Leadership Asheville 24 meeting will have the opportunity to discuss with Virgil Smith the pressing issues affecting our community as well as potential solutions for realizing change. An engaging speaker, Mr. Smith will share his perspective of our community one that has been influenced by his commitment to our community, illustrated by both his professional and volunteer efforts. Mr. Smith has been the President and Publisher at the Asheville Citizen-Times since 1996.

October 12, 2005
Timothy Hughes, a member of the Youth Leadership Asheville 4 class, serves on NC Civic Education Consortium grant review committee.

Timothy Hughes, a junior at A.C. Reynolds High School, will be serving on the NC Civic Education Consortium grant review committee. As a committee member, Tim will be reviewing a number of grant proposals from across the state and joining with other committee members to make funding recommendations to the Consortium. Ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, the purpose of these grants is to fund innovative, collaborative civic education projects that develop effective citizenship among North Carolina’s children and youth. Since its inception, the program has awarded over $347,000 to 59 outstanding projects across the state. Tim will be traveling to Chapel Hill, NC on November 4th to meet with all participants of the grant review committee.