Leadership for Five Seasons
Leadership for Five Seasons
Leadership for Five Seasons (LFS) is a premier community leadership program that focuses on developing top talent through a formal leadership curriculum. LFS provides participants with community knowledge, connections and inspiration to make a positive impact on the community. Participants are selected from area businesses, public and private agencies, civic and other organizations. The LFS Class of 2022 marks the 39th anniversary of the program, which now includes: Adult, Executive, and Youth programs.
Leadership for Five Seasons values diversity and inclusion. We highly encourage individuals representing diverse cultural, racial, religious, social, economic and industry sectors (e.g. business, government, non-profit and academia) to apply.
The LFS alumni network is more than 1,200 strong. Check out the Economic Alliance’s events calendar for Leadership for Five Seasons Alumni networking opportunities!
Adult
Applications for the Leadership For Five Seasons Adult Class of 2022 are now open through April 30. Please review the application requirements and apply here.
Each year, 35 individuals are selected to participate in the Adult program. The ten-month program runs from August through May. This unique program empowers participants with a comprehensive understanding of our community’s challenges and opportunities, providing broader knowledge and their role as engaged citizens.
Participants will gain:
- Enhanced understanding of themselves and their leadership style
- Examples of innovation happening in the community
- Connections to key area leaders
- Greater sense of pride for the community
- An inspired heart to give back and grow beyond the program
Participants must:
- Commit to the ten-month program including an evening orientation and an overnight retreat
- Desire to improve leadership skills and gain community knowledge
- Be employed by an Economic Alliance member business (if not currently associated, participants must join if selected for the program)
What to expect:
- The program kicks off with a two-day leadership retreat where they will review current program curriculum and discuss leadership styles, analyze curriculum assessments and create a customized leadership plan.
- Participants will attend nine full-day monthly leadership days to learn about an area of economic opportunity and quality of life, hear about challenges facing the community and connect with community leaders. The leadership days are as follows:
- History Day
- Agriculture Day
- Arts & Culture Day
- Entrepreneurial Day
- Human Needs
- Government Day
- Economic Development Day
- Education Day
- Health Care Day
- Particpants will spend a half-day towards the end of the program to review their leadership plan and improvements with curriculum facilitator.
- The program ends with the completion of a class project to fulfill an area of need in the community. Examples of past projects include planting trees, raising money and building learning nature trails, putting up inspirational quotes in middle schools, etc. This project serves as a catalyst for the ongoing engagement we hope each participant will carry out through the remainder of their life in our community.
Alumni
The continued support of LFS Alumni promotes and develops leaders in ICR Iowa as well as:
- Supporting the LFS Youth program
- Provides continued networking opportunities - socially, professionally and personally
- Ensuring LFS Adult program is representative of all sectors, including non-profit and small business
- Continuing to keep reasonable tuition costs for all LFS programs
- Access and participation to the LFS Alumni LinkedIn group
- Free attendance to the Spring Luncheon, Holiday Breakfast
- Reduced admission cost to LFS Annual golf Outing
- Ongoing exclusive volunteer opportunities across all the Leadership for Five Seasons programs (Youth, College, Adult, Executive, Board of Advisors and Alumni)
- Ongoing leadership and professional development opportunities
- Community impact
Thank you to all our Lifetime LFS Alumni:
Executive
Click here to view the participant list for the LFS Executive Class of 2020!
Each year, 8-10 individuals and their spouses are
selected to participate in the Leadership for Five Seasons program. The nine-month program runs
from August through April and targets recently relocated or new Executives to the area.
This unique program empowers participants with a comprehensive understanding of
our community’s challenges and opportunities, providing broader knowledge and
their role as engaged citizens, while building upon their career network.
Participants will gain:
- Enhanced understanding of the community at large
- Examples of innovation happening in the community
- Connections to key area leaders
- Greater sense of pride for the community
- An inspired heart to give back and grow beyond the
program
Participants must:
- Commit to the nine-month program including an evening
orientation
- Desire to gain community knowledge
- Be employed by an Economic Alliance member business (if
not currently associated, participants must join if selected for the
program)
What to expect:
- The program kicks off with an opportunity for socializing over dinner and an overview of the program.
- Spouses are welcome to attend each session
- Sessions will be held from approximately 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm
- Participants will attend six monthly leadership days to
learn about an area of economic opportunity and quality of life, hear about
challenges facing the community and connect with community leaders. The
leadership days are as follows:
- Orientation and Dinner
- ICR IOWA Day
- Business, Industry, and Government Day
- Education Day
- Healthcare Day
- Quality of Life Day
- Orientation and Dinner
Youth
Congratulations to those selected into the LFS Youth Class of 2021. Click here to view the list.
The Leadership for Five Seasons - Youth Program identifies and selects 40 Cedar Rapids Metro area high school students that demonstrate leadership qualities and have a concern for their community. Eight days of in-depth programming from August-March and acquaints students with community needs, opportunities, problems, and resources, while allowing interaction with community leaders, decision makers and each other. While fostering mutual respect and an interest in voluntary community activities, the students strengthen their leadership skills. The inaugural LFS Youth class participated in 1994 making the Class of 2022 the 27th year of the program.
To learn more about any of the Leadership for Five Seasons programs, contact Jessica Komisar at jkomisar@cedarrapids.org. There are also many opportunities to volunteer with LFS. It’s a great way to stay connected to the program, as well as with classmates. Contact Us today for volunteer opportunity information.
Leadership for Five Seasons News
