Leadership Fort Wayne is preparing for our 27^th year! I can’t believe how fast this past year has gone.  As we get ready to welcome our newest cohort of community leaders we will continue to build on our past success and introduce a new emphasis on specific leadership skills to benefit each LFW participant personally and professionally. 

These changes are the direct result of discussions with our corporate sponsors, grantors, participants, board members and alumni who all agree that LFW is an important component of bringing about positive community change through leadership engagement and community service, but that it also must continue to provide relevant and useful programming for all stakeholders.  

As such we spent our summer vacation evaluating and researching the skills that will be must useful for LFW participants and their communities in the 21^st Century.

Please take a minute to review and if you are interested in participating in a personal assessment of these skills you are invited to contact Ellen or me.

Becoming 21^st Century Leader –

• Accountability to stakeholders & constituencies
• Trust Building: Ethics, Integrity, Humility
• Transformational Leadership vs Transactional Leadership

Visionary Leadership Skills (Being a Pioneer for Change) –

• Creating and communicating the vision
• Planning (Resources)  and goal setting
• Applying the vision (Implementation)

Critical Thinking and Decision Making Skills

• Anatomy of Decision Making
• Appreciative Inquiry
• Emotional Intelligence
• Problem Solving
• Collaboration Skills Group process techniques
• Team building and project management Negotiating, consensus and team management 

Conflict Management Skills -  

• What causes conflict? (Diversity, Experiences, Beliefs, Sensitivities)
• Listening, collaborating and yielding
• The leaders role In conflict resolution

 Communication and Connection Skills

• Clear articulation of issues, problems and viewpoint
• Storytelling
• Listening and giving feedback
• Networking

 Research and consultation with pother premier leadership development programs indicate that these are the skills that transcend both personally and professionally. It is a focus that is intended to provide rigorous and relevant information that will serve our leadership development participants well who in turn will serve our communities well in return. 

 For LFW Alums, as always you are invited to join us on any class day or for any presentation. All we ask is that you send us an e-mail or call to let us know what day you plan to attend. Mark your calendar to join us at the Fort Wayne Country Club on September 16, 2010 at 5:45 PM to welcome the LFW Class of 2011. (Be sure to RSVP to wilheljk@ipfw.edu  when you get your e-mail invitation. 

Enjoy these last few weeks of summer!

– Cheri Becker

Wednesday, June 23rd saw what some are calling the largest pep rally Northeast Indiana has ever had. The Vision 2020 Regional Economic Summit brought over 1,040 people together to talk about economic development and build pride for the region.

The fact that the Northeast Indiana region has seen a steady decline of per capita income over the last 15 years shows that as a regional community, we must do something to turn the downward trend around. Currently, we make 80 cents to the dollar the average American worker makes. Vision 2020, a six-month visioning project that has had nearly 2,000 conversations throughout the region, was sparked by this fact. The Regional Economic Summit was the culmination of the process and the kick-off to its implementation.

“A community reinvented every day! Vibrant, progressive, innovative, and full of opportunity,” was the vision statement revealed to the audience during the Summit.
Attendees used wireless keypads to vote on goals and strategies that were developed through the process. The five pillars of 21st century talent, competitive business climate, entrepreneurship, infrastructure and quality of life, form the basis of the vision. Topics of questions ranged from which counties attendees lived and worked in to whether attendees were willing to help implement the vision.

At the event, the public was able to pledge a commitment to the effort by signing a “Declaration of Outrageous” and pledge cards promising to use regional collaboration. The declaration is now full of signatures.

The Regional Economic Summit sought broad input from community leaders and residents for all Northeast Indiana–and that’s what it got.  Over 1,000 people from businesses, foundations, schools, government and 10 different counties came together to show support for a new way of thinking and commitment toward moving forward together.

The full presentation and results from electronic voting can be found at  www.NortheastIndianaVision.com.

The Northeast Indiana regional community includes Adams, Allen, DeKalb, LaGrange, Huntington, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley counties.

Written by Monica Freeman, NEIRC

Oh those lazy hazy days of summer! Rosie pictured here, is our rescued Golden Doodle. She is giving her best “lazy lake day, enjoying a cruise” in the boat look. However, here at LFW it is anything but lazy! All of our programs have held their graduation events and we extend our best wishes to all who participated and made this past program year so successful. We are especially grateful to our corporate sponsors, grantors, supporters and alumni contributors for making these programs possible. 

By the way it is through this support that we are able to offer program scholarships and all of our Youth Leadership Fort Wayne Programs free to all participants! Another not well publicized fact of YLFW and our Youth As Resources programming is that over the past 16 years there have been 208 Youth Community Service Projects completed with an investment in our community of over $200,000! These kids rock!

With the year coming to a close, we are wrapping up the year with reports to the board, corporate sponsors and grantors and getting ready to roll out our twenty-seventh year of community leadership development! Programmatically there are some subtle changes in the LFW adult program that will provide more skill development to participants. In addition we plan to introduce more detailed pre and post evaluations that will allow LFW to measure skill development and overall program impact more effectively.

Our LFW NINA program recently wrapped up the Emerging Leaders class with 21 one individuals completing the six-month program which utilized Peter C. Brinckerhoff, Mission-based Management book as the curriculum’s foundational guide. Participant s for the Emerging Leaders program are nominated for participation by their executive director. It was an honor to hear their success stories and learn why they were selected for participation during the graduation ceremony. Our non-profit community is in good hands, believe me.

Moving forward we continue to look for opportunities to keep our alums engaged, energized and involved! I personally believe that LFW Alums are or should be a strike-force for positive community change and engagement. By the way did you know that over 1,000 individuals have been through the signature LFW program and that over 700 of us live right here in Fort Wayne, Allen County and that virtually every board, committee and task force in our community is likely to have at least one LFW alumni serving on it? That’s good stuff! Thank you for your commitment and service to our community and to Leadership Fort Wayne.

I hope you will watch for more details on Alumni Programming in the coming months, but also would like to hear ideas from you. E-mail me at beckerc@ipfw.edu

Another reminder is to send notifications of your community involvement so we can share with the community and as always, alums are encouraged each year to refer individuals for the signature program. Applications are due by June 30, 2010!

The 2010 Class of Leadership Fort Wayne is closing out their program year with a May 6 class on public safety.   A few of the highlights of this day include a tour of the Fort Wayne Fire Department training facility arranged by LFW board member  Battalion Chief Kenn Kunze and a public safety panel discussion moderated by LFW alumna Kim Wagner.  Another LFW graduate, Bernie Beier, will welcome us to the Public Safety Academy.   LFW is grateful to these and the many other alumni who have participated in or helped to plan program days this year.    Each year as we evaluate our program and make Improvements for the next year we welcome suggestions from our alumni.  So give us a call or send us an email with any ideas you may have.

Current class members will give final reports on their Community Action Team projects at the closing retreat and graduation on May 27.  This year class members conducted projects for the following organizations:  United Way, Junior League, Mustard Seed, Science Central, Allen County Education Partnership, Blue Jacket, Inc. and Erin’s House.   A celebration and graduation ceremony will start at 5:30 on May 27.  The 41 graduates and their guests will hear from Mark Becker, LFW graduate and NE Indiana Fund Executive Director.  Following the graduation ceremony attendees will be treated to a magic show performed by Married 2 Magic.

 Current participants of Leadership Fort Wayne and the NINA programs along with alumni, board members, YLNI, Regional Marketing Partnership and other regional leaders met together April 14th at Sweetwater Sound to participate in a VISION 2020 Leadership Input Session. About 130 leaders facilitated by Gianni Longo and Dave Kolzow came together to brainstorm “OUTRAGEOUS” ideas to transform our region by 2020.

Here is a brief summary of feedback after the event & some more ideas:

 Please rate your experience at the Vision 2020 Breakfast:

• 55% selected Excellent
• 35% selected  Good
• 10% selected Fair

Comments Included…

“Very Well Organized”

“Idea Generating”

“Great time to reflect upon economic development within FW and the region.” 

Ideas you had at the session not brought forth?

-       What ‘Sustainability’ means for the future of NE Indiana.

-      Farming projects involving the international community to increase employment and take advantage of the skills brought from foreign countries

-       Focusing on manufacturing of green alternative-energy technology, by using this area’s engineering expertise. Also, promoting the arts by having a First Night celebration on New Year’s Eve, which would connect families and young people with the performing arts and provide something to do other than dining and drinking. Think how much fun it was to celebrate the city’s bicentennial as a community event. A first Night event (celebrated at cities around the country) would add in performing arts.

-      Though it was mentioned, I was surprised that not in any of the previous lists of ideas and information gathered was there a mention of our amazing diversity of cultures found in the northeast Indiana sector. I am concerned that instead of celebrating this fact, that we are just not talking about it or understanding the positive ramifications of this reality. South Side High School has one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation; in Fort Wayne, we speak over 80 foreign languages. Though this was never in the city fathers’ strategic plans, it needs now to be faced with a positive attitude.Need to get suburbanites and residents of town around Fort Wayne, downtown. Many in both these groups seldom, if ever, get downtown. Parkview Field is a fantastic start. Also, the need to add living quarters and studios for artists and musicians downtown, to create an arts community. Can there be artists’ apartments near Art Link? Also, why not have local colleges and universities coordinate activities downtown. Invite IPFW, Manchester and St. Francis students to Indiana Tech’s movie theater and student center for a music festival, and tie in downtown venues as well.

 As you reflected on the event over this past day, what ideas did you have afterwards?  

-      Although I was not on educational panel, I wanted to suggest that NEIRP looks at the Starfish model in Indianapolis. The Starfish model provides the brightest students within IPS to attend private schools on scholarship.

The Leadership Fort Wayne Alumni are in the process of considering how they can continue this type of constructive brainstorming and idea generating for other community issues.  If you have a community issue we should consider convening about, please contact us!

Thank you to our partner the Northeast Indiana Fund!

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The economy must be looking up, John Scheele says: More people are ordering rhubarb pie for dessert at Cindy’s Diner, the 15-stool restaurant he owns with his wife, Cindy.

“People are spending a little more and feeling better,” he says.

There are other hopeful signs in this city of 248,000.

On May 17, General Motors‘ Fort Wayne Assembly will start a third shift for the first time in its 24-year history. By May 31, the truck-building plant will employ 3,787, up from 2,487 on Dec. 31.

Some of the new workers were laid off at GM facilities in 25 states.

“It’s great for the community. It’s great to see the whole nation bouncing back,” says plant manager Mike Glinski.

Relief that the plant survived GM’s restructuring created “a whole different atmosphere” after a “really awful” recession, says Orval Plumlee, president of United Auto Workers Local 2209.

This city’s diverse manufacturing base insulated it from some of the recession’s effects, says Andi Udris, president of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, and its low cost of living makes it an appealing spot now for companies that are consolidating operations.

The metro-area jobless rate was 11.1% in March, but Udris says Allen County attracted about a half-dozen new employers in 2009.

Main Street Venture Fund, an investment group, recently saved 40 jobs when it bought the assets of a company that made electro-mechanical components.

“It’s starting to feel like we’re going to come out of this,” says Main Street President Karen Goldner, a Fort Wayne city council member.

Mike Carpenter, owner of Custom Poly Packaging, says the past three months were “a pleasant surprise” after a tough 2009 that forced him to lay off three employees. His 13 workers, including one temporary employee hired recently, are starting to put in some overtime, he says.

Don Jennings sees optimism in his customers at BitterSweet Gifts. More expensive items are selling, and “People have gotten nicer in the past few months.”

Click here to read the entire article

By Judy Keen, USA TODAY, printed  Tuesday April 27, 2010.

Click here for YAR Grant application  Do you work with youth?  Do you know someone who works with youth?  A teacher, scout leader, youth pastor, youth center director…if you work with youth or know someone who does, why not engage your youth in a community service project?  YAR (Youth as Resources) awards youth groups up to $750 in grant money for youth to do a community service project.  The project should all be youth initiated, planned and completed by youth, ages 6-18, with the guidance of a caring adult.  Grant should stress being drug-free or show how alternative activities can provide youth other things to do than drugs.  Applications are due on January 31.  Youth must prepare a 5 minute presentation for Wednesday, February 17, in front of the Youth as Resources Grants Council.