Members of this year's Leadership Johnson County class participate in a team-building exercise in September. Leadership Johnson County is a nine-month community leadership program that focuses on objectives such as learning more about the community, putting leadership in practice, building networks and putting together community-minded projects.
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Great leaders are forged through challenge and overcoming adversity.
For a group of local residents, this means taking on projects to give young girls a safe, creative and stable place to grow. They’ll lend a hand to an organization serving foster children to help them learn life skills, give area dogs an engaging place to spend their time and help finish a home for young women facing a crisis pregnancy.
As Indian Creek students learn to raise cattle, a group will improve the facilities they have to work with.
All of these projects are ideas from members of Leadership Johnson County, and the hope is that in completing them, these developing leaders will be ready to steer the county toward success.
“Not only are we teaching those leadership skills, it’s the community relationships and community skills we have,” said Lisa Kress, assistant director of Leadership Johnson County. “Any more, it’s imperative to know these things when you’re a leader, and to know how exactly how things work in our county.”
As a new class has moved through this year’s Leadership Johnson County program, they’re using the skills and tools to improve specific areas of the community. The 41 members of the class have spent the past six months learning about different facets of the county, from local government to agritourism to nonprofits.
Tying it all together are the group projects to benefit different organizations and causes.
“It’s helping them work with other people, reach out to the community and get what they need — helping them make the community a better place to live,” Kress said.
Since it was founded in 1995, Leadership Johnson County has trained more than 800 local residents to be better leaders and contributors to the local community.
The organization was born after area residents expressed concerns about the direction local agencies, businesses and government would go in the future.
Duke Energy, known at the time as Cinergy/PSI, conducted a survey to gauge public opinion about the future of leadership in Johnson County. People wondered who would fill future volunteer vacancies and board leadership positions as the current generation of community leaders grew older.
They were also worried that those leaders might not be qualified to lead and serve. Taking those concerns to heart, Duke Energy and Franklin College formed a leadership program for the county.
The organization has grown to include special workshops and seminars held throughout the year, focusing on management, women in leadership positions and the power of innovation.
A recent addition to the Leadership Johnson County program is a Youth Leadership Academy. Founded in 2019, the five-month program is designed to bring together a select group of county high school students to learn more about their community and practice leadership skills.
“Anyone who graduates from the program has a greater knowledge of the county. The folks who come in and do panels and guest speaking get to know the class members, so we can build relationships and engagement,” Kress said. “It just makes Johnson County a better place to live, work and play.”
But at the core of the organization is still the Signature Program. Those accepted to the program meet once a month, and each class asks students to focus on a different aspect of leadership.
Organizers try to split the curriculum into two parts: leadership skill enhancement and community awareness. Specific days of the class are divided into categories: media, infrastructure and agriculture, for example.
“Leadership Johnson County not only helps develop leaders for today and into the future, we also focus quite a bit on the community,” Kress said. “Everyone who graduates from our class can see parts of the community they probably wouldn’t have seen another way.”
The centerpiece of the program, though, is the group project. In the first month, participants break off into small groups, with each team required to envision and enact a project that would benefit the community.
The projects this year touch different segments of the county, but all are united in the effort to improve the lives of local residents.
For the group Girls Rule, the focus was on remodeling the basement at Girls Inc. of Johnson County. Members plan to paint the basement floor, assemble bookshelves and storage units, hang posters and bulletin boards, and create a calming corner.
“We’re trying to create an inviting place for teens,” said Michelle Badoloto, a member of the group. “(Girls Inc.) is all about empowering young girls to be strong women, so that was very important for us.”
Guardian Angels for Angelcare has focused its efforts on supporting the Angelcare House, a facility where mothers facing a crisis pregnancy can be housed, get counseling, continue their education and learn meaningful life and parenting skills.
Organizers of the house are hoping to have their first teen residents by the end of the calendar year, and the group is working to help with bathroom fixtures and other items needed before girls can move into the house.
“Our group very quickly felt that passion for getting this organization up and running, because there is such a huge need for it in Johnson County,” said group member Elizabeth Wetherholt. “They are pretty close to being finished with the house, and they’re on their last-minute list of getting things checked off.”
A group calling themselves Operation Jack and Jill are helping Cattle Creek Company, a program of Indian Creek High School. The project involves installing a self-watering system to provide fresh water to a new pasture, installing a concrete floor in the barn and installing four storage racks in the cattle barn to organize materials.
Two different groups are completing work for Resources of Hope, an organization providing resources to meet the physical and emotional needs of foster youth living in central Indiana.
One group, Hope 007, is working to help build curriculum for the Teen Connect program, which is for young people ages 12 to 17 to learn additional life skills. The curriculum will include topics such as personal finance, basic cooking, workforce readiness, and other important life skills.
“There will be a curriculum that they can use the entire year, and a class a month that will focus on things like home maintenance, how to make a doctor’s appointment, how to go to an interview — basic life skills they need to know,” said Hannah Griggs, a member of the group.
Group members also plan to match each participant in the class with a community organization they can use as a resource once they age out of the foster system.
“Not only are they learning a life skill, but they’re forming a connection or relationship with other organizations they can go to or they might need later on,” Griggs said.
Another group, Fostering Hope, plans to help create a more inviting and functional meeting room and kitchen in Resources of Hope’s new location. The group will provide tables, chairs, parenting books, shelving and branded class folders, along with a paint-by-number mural.
The final group is Helping Hounds. Members plan to work with the Alex and Ali Foundation through its Happy Hounds doggy daycare. Happy Hounds provides a spacious place for dogs to spend the day, while individuals with developmental disabilities are in charge of caring for the animals.
“We went through as a group and talked about the things that each of us was passionate about, and the types of projects we’d be interested in,” said group member Jenn Stewart-Burton. “Happy Hounds was a great fit for us because it brought in the animal-loving aspect and the people-loving aspect.”
Helping Hounds is refreshing the facilities, creating a dog agility course, and building a wheelchair ramp for the front entrance.
“We sat down with one of the board members from Happy Hounds, toured the facility and asked what are some of the needs you have. They provided us with a whole list of needs, and we went through and found what we had the budget for and what we realistically could do,” Stewart-Burton said.
AT A GLANCE
Leadership Johnson County Signature Program
What: A nine-month community leadership program that focuses on objectives such as learning more about the community, putting leadership in practice, building networks and putting together community-minded projects.
When: Applications are now being accepted for the next class, which starts in September 2023 and lasts through May 2024
Who can apply: Any resident of Johnson County age 18 and older may apply to participate. Non-residents may also apply, provided they have worked or have been active in the county at least two years immediately before the application time. Organizers look at diversity in all areas including age, gender, race, geographic location, occupation, etc.
Cost: $1,750 for the program. Applications are due electronically by midnight March 1.
How to apply: Visit leadershipjohnsoncounty.org/signature-program
More information: Contact Lisa Kress at [email protected] or 317-738-8794.
