This document summarizes a webinar on the Leadership Learning Community's June 2011 webinar series. The series featured case studies on popular education and scaling leadership impact in rural communities through the Horizons Program, leadership development for nonprofit leaders, and being a network weaver. The Horizons Program engaged over 100,000 rural people across 7 states and increased civic engagement. It provided lessons for mobilizing large-scale leadership to address complex problems. The webinar highlighted the program's approach, impacts, and strengths in building connections across individuals, organizations, and communities.

1. Leadership Learning Community
Webinar Series
June 2011
@leadershipera #leadershipnet

2. "LLC brings together the best minds in leadership
development to advance the field…LLC anticipates
the future and is a dynamic catalyst capable of
creating a link from today’s issues in leadership
development to tomorrow’s solutions.“
(Donna Stark, The Annie E. Casey Foundation)
Network Research Application

3. Inclusive, Networked & Collective
Leadership
www.leadershipforanewera.org
The value of collective leadership
networks is in their capacity to
solve problems quickly in an
environment of uncertainty and
complexity
(Watts, 2004)

4. Leadership Webinar Series
Ruby Lee, Northwest Area Foundation
A Case Study in Popular Education and Scaling
Leadership Impact in Rural Communities
Marla Cornelius, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
Daring to Lead 2011: Leadership Development &
Support for Nonprofit Leaders
June Holley, Network Weaver
Are You A Network Weaver?

5. A Case Study in Popular Education
and Scaling Leadership Impact
The Horizons Program offers a compelling story for all in the field of leadership who care deeply about
how to connect and mobilize leadership at the scale needed to address complex social problems.
Patrick L. Scully, Everyday Democracy, Senior Associate
Ruby Lee, Program Director, Northwest Area Foundation
Lynette Flage, North Dakota State University Extension Service
Deborah Meehan, Executive Director, Leadership Learning Community

6. The Horizons Program: Testing New
Ideas and Approaches
Is it possible to build leadership
capacity in hundreds of rural
communities?
Yes!!! 100,000 rural people
engaged from 283 communities
across 7 states.

7. Horizon’s Leadership Impact
• A 63% increase in civic engagement
• Community governance is more accessible
and transparent in 50% of the communities
• Majority of participants are new to leadership
• Over 1,811 action plans implemented
• $21,000,000 in new resources for
communities

8. Key Elements of Horizons
Study Circles
Leadership
Small Grants
Plenty
Social
Media
Coaching: Community
Action Plans Visioning

9. Traditional Leadership Approach
Individual Skills and Knowledge
Strong Organizations
Community Results

10. From Individuals to Communities
Traditional Approaches Horizons Program

11. From Organizations to Networks…
Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefangmonster/ /
CC BY 2.0

12. Volunteers
Community Institutions
(colleges, churches, k12)
Business
Government
Government
Business
Volunteers
From Silos to Partnerships…
Community

13. Horizons is a Model That Is….
 Scalable
 Builds Connection
 Promotes Action
 Leverages Resources
 Builds & Doesn’t Rely on Infrastructure

14. Lessons Learned from the
Horizons Program
Implementation & Evaluation

15. Leadership and Poverty Reduction
Will increased leadership capacity help rural
communities reduce poverty & build
prosperity? Yes and No:
77% of Study Circle participants understand root causes of poverty and over
half are still engaged in poverty reduction actions
AND
Many participants were not clear on definitions & expectations and believe
it’s too early to know if they are making a difference.

16. Study Circles Inspire Action
Popular education helps to motivate people who
have been disengaged to take action by helping
them to understand how their personal experiences
are connected to societal problems.
We had wonderful ideas after the study circles ..to
decide what poverty meant to everybody and
where we were going to go with it and how we
were going to fix it.
Horizon’s participant

17. Horizons Builds Connection
• Individuals
• Organizations
• Delivery Organizations
• Community & Extension
• Community & Foundations

18. Strengthening the Horizons Model
• Diversity and race: The program
increased leadership diversity, but
needed to bring a race lens to
understanding and acting on poverty
& to appropriately tailor the program
for different communities.

19. The Horizons Program provides an important model
for all who are interested in how to mobilize
leadership at the scale needed to make a significant
difference in the well-being of communities.
“We have lived here for eight years, and,
they’ve been talking about ‘somebody’s
got to do something’ …and now in
eighteen months somebody has done
something.”
Horizons’ participant
Images: Lawrence Community Works Website, Bruner Loeb Forum

20. Highlights from the Foundation
Ruby Lee
Program Officer
Northwest Area Foundation

21. Highlights from the Study Circles
Patrick L. Scully
Everyday Democracy
Senior Associate

22. Highlights from
Community Coaching
Lynette Flage
North Dakota State University
Extension Service

23. Questions?

24. Sign up for our
newsletter
Follow us on Visit and
Twitter contribute to
@LeadershipEra our blog
Get Involved
Participate in
Join the LNE
events and
website
webinars
LeadershipLearning.org LeadershipForANewEra.org

25. Contact Us
info@leadershiplearning.org
www.leadershiplearning.org
www.leadershipforanewera.org
Twitter.com/LeadershipEra
_________________________
1203 Preservation Park Way #200
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 238-9080 Phone
(510) 238-9084 Fax