In the early 1980's, a handful of Stillwater leaders saw an idea come to life with the inception of Leadership Stillwater. Since that first class in January of 1984, over 400 people have participated in Leadership Stillwater.

"Our community needs strong leadership to make Stillwater a better place to work and live," says Harold Sare, who was the Curriculum Chair for that initial Leadership Stillwater class.

Sare noted that the purpose of Leadership Stillwater is virtually unchanged from [the 1980's] to identify potential and emerging leaders and prepare them for positions of community involvement and civic leadership. Graduates of the program serve on volunteer boards and committees that touch every aspect of the Stillwater community.

"It's great to see that our alumni have done what we intended and gone on to take leadership roles in the community," Sare added.

To prepare them for leadership roles, participants undergo more than 60 hours of classroom-style training. The 2008 program consisted of two all-day sessions and eleven evening sessions covering various areas such as community and human services, Stillwater's economy, education, city government and leadership skills development. Class XVIII members began work in January 2008, with an opening reception on January 25 and an Orientation session on January 26. The class culminated with a final session, reception and graduation banquet on April 26.

Program resources include civic leaders, government officials, educators and experts from a variety of fields. Leadership Stillwater is a program of the Stillwater Foundation for Progress, an educational affiliate of the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce.

Leadership Stillwater Alumni Association is the organization that grew out of the graduates of the Leadership Stillwater program. The organization is noted for its role in providing support to community leadership opportunities such as Leadership Stillwater as well as the leadership program for youth in the Stillwater area, Leadership Tomorrow

For more information on the Leadership Stillwater program and for an application into the program, see the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce website at: http://www.stillwaterchamber.org