Leadership Programs Lauded for Value to Kansas Communities 3/28/03

In 1997, officials of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University wanted to help provide leadership training to 500 Kansans in five years.

On Friday, March 28, the Institute’s Director Ron Wilson brought good news during an event at K-State to recognize leadership programs in Kansas communities.

"The ‘500 in 5’ goal has not only been surpassed," Wilson told participants in the first-ever Community Leadership Day, "it has been more than doubled."

Kansas Counties Recognized For Leadership Programs

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Twenty-one Kansas counties have received leadership mini-grants from the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development since 1998. Those counties were recognized during the Community Leadership Day in Manhattan March 28.

In alphabetical order, the counties are: Cloud; Doniphan; Decatur; Gove; Graham; Greeley; Hodgeman; Jefferson; Kingman; Lane; Meade; Mitchell; Morton; Norton; Ottawa; Rawlins; Republic; Scott; Sheridan; Stevens; and Trego.

Wilson said 1,080 Kansas residents received leadership training. Most of those (611) were in counties that were awarded mini-grants – typically $200 – from the Huck Boyd National Institute. An additional 469 Kansans were trained in counties that received other grants or programming spurred by the Institute. Programs in more than 20 counties were honored during Community Leadership Day.

The statewide leadership programs focus on developing leadership skills; encouraging involvement in community activities; working effectively with people; and gaining knowledge of their community and outside resources.

According to a mail survey of participants, "the leadership programs had a positive impact on every one of those factors," Wilson said. "They were particularly strong in building knowledge of outside resources and knowledge of their community."

He added that nearly 98 percent of the participants said they would recommend the leadership program to others.

Statewide, participants said they spent a total of 267 hours of additional volunteer time per week as a result of participating in leadership programs. Wilson noted that the current estimated financial value of volunteer service is $16.54 per hour, which means that the leadership programs have a value in Kansas of more than $4,416 each week.

"This is a tremendous value to the state of Kansas," he said. "Great credit goes to those local volunteers who stepped up to create programs to foster new leadership at the grass-roots level."

Wilson credited several state partners for their help, including the K-State Research and Extension LEADS team, the Kansas Leadership Forum and the Kansas PRIDE program.

"These partners helped the local leadership programs by providing ‘train the trainer’ sessions for them throughout the state," Wilson said. "K-State LEADS also developed a leadership curriculum that counties could use."

For more information on future leadership training opportunities, mini-grants or other programs, interested persons may call Wilson at the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at 785-532-7690.

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.