January 2019 - EKY Leaders Graduate Leadership Kentucky

Among a class of 54 individuals from across Kentucky, three leaders from Eastern Kentucky recently completed the seven-month program. Jordan Gibson, president of the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce; Les Stapleton, mayor of Prestonsburg; and Dr. Burton Webb, president of the University of Pikeville, were selected in May to complete Leadership Kentucky, a program designed to bring together a selected group of individuals who possess a broad variety of leadership abilities, career accomplishments, and volunteer activities to gain insight into complex issues facing the state.

The goal of the program is to prepare participants to take an active role in advancing the state for the common good. By fostering understanding of how the state’s issues are interconnected, and by forging new relationships among community and regional leaders, Leadership Kentucky graduates bring a fresh and informed perspective to their communities and companies, serving as important participants in the unified effort to shape Kentucky’s future.

Through a series of seven monthly, two-day sessions, held in various locations in the state, participants are educated about the state of Kentucky and its challenges. They meet and talk with Kentucky’s current leaders and through a systematic educational program, explore the state’s opportunities, needs and resources. Kentucky’s rich cultural heritage and its unique diversity are woven throughout the curriculum that features the state’s economy, education, health and human services, law and justice, and environment. In addition, Leadership Kentucky provides a thought-provoking experience focusing on the attributes of leadership and what it means to be a leader. By visiting various regions of the Commonwealth, the participants develop an enhanced view and a new meaning to the word community that spans the entire state.

To learn more, visit www.leadershipky.org.