Emerging Leaders Academy
Empowering Boone County's future leaders
BCDA’s Emerging Leaders Academy is a high-quality leadership training designed to help you hone your leadership potential and prepare future leaders to take on the various leadership roles in our communities.
The Future of Boone County Starts with you
We help develop the future leaders of Boone County from city council members to non-profit volunteers and everything in between. Our goal is to connect potential leaders with local organizations and community groups to continue their efforts that greatly benefit our communities. Since 2021, we have worked with over 30 emerging leaders across Boone County.
About the Emerging Leaders
To discover, encourage, and prepare future leaders to take on the various leadership roles in our communities.
Be a part of helping Boone County grow.
Over the past several years, many local organizations and community groups have struggled to find new leadership and volunteers to be able to continue their efforts that greatly benefit our communities.
Boone County’s Emerging Leaders Academy is our way of solving this issue.
At the beginning of the year, selected participants will begin the program with a kickoff event, followed by four training sessions throughout four months led by an experienced leadership development professional.
Throughout the experience, the class will select a community project that they will work on and execute as a group. All participants that complete the required training sessions and participate in the group project will graduate from the program in September.
The experience will provide participants with an opportunity to meet new people throughout the county, gain new knowledge about leadership development and their own leadership potential, and then put the new relationships and knowledge to use by completing an impactful community project. They will then be able to take what they learned from this experience and implement their new skills in current and future Boone County leadership roles.
The academy invites any adults living or working in Boone County to apply. It is also a great experience for those who are new to the area and want to meet people and learn more about how to get involved in Boone County.
If you are interested in participating, download this form and return it to us by December 15, 2023.
Meet the leaders behind the EL Academy
CURT COFFMAN
Curriculum leader
A New York Times bestselling author, researcher, business scientist, consultant to the University of Denver, Fortune 1001 and 500 organizations, MBA and Executive Fellow at the Daniels School of Business, Curt Coffman has invested 30+ years in the science of high-performance cultures.
As Senior Partner and Chief Science Officer of The Coffman Organization, Coffman has studied hundreds of organizations and millions of employees and customers. He was formerly the Global Practice Leader for employee and customer engagement at the Gallup Organization for 22 years.
Coffman has led professional development training for businesses such as Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, 3M, Disney, Red Bull, Toyota Motor Sales, NASA, and many more!
Molly Brummond
curriculum leader
Molly is a 2003 graduate of Nebraska Law. After several years in private practice, Brummond returned to the College of Law in 2010 and, since that time, has served the College in various roles dealing with alumni relations, student life, and communications.
She is one of the principal developers of the College’s Build Your Character program – a program that works to identify leadership and professional skills development opportunities for students that occur both inside and outside of the classroom.
The program has received much national attention, and Brummond has written and presented on the topic for the National Conference of Bar Examiners and NALP.
Brandi Yosten
academy Coordinator
Cultivating leadership skills of young people here in Boone County is such a crucial step in the process of promoting involvement and greater contributions of these individuals’ talents within our community through various organizations to make Boone County the best place to live, work and grow a family.
I believe that the Boone County Emerging Leaders Academy accomplishes just that.
Dani O'Brien
academy coordinator
The Boone County Emerging Leaders Academy is a great way to get young adults involved in their communities and to get out of their comfort zones. The leadership training that this program offers is unmatched and a resource all young professionals can benefit from. Watching the participants dedicate their time to bettering themselves and this community is inspiring.
I believe that the Emerging Leaders Academy is one of the best investments for young adults in Boone County.
2023 Program Series
Communicating with Impact
Every day, we are asked to do more with less. To do so, teams of all shapes and sizes must work effectively and efficiently together to achieve the organization’s mission and vision. Those who are successful in this endeavor undoubtedly can effectively communicate.
In this program series, Molly Brummond, assistant dean of student development at the University of Nebraska College of Law, will present workshops tied to the overall theme “Communicating with Impact.”
Meet the EL Academy Graduates
Class of 2022
This group selected EMT Awareness as their project. They conducted research and interviews with local fire/rescue departments and community members, to better understand the barriers preventing people from becoming an EMT.
They used this information to create marketing materials and a resource page that local departments can utilize to recruit new EMTs. These resources will also be useful for those looking to become an EMT, as all the necessary information they need is readily available and organized by community on the project webpage.
Class of 2021
At the beginning of their Academy, the participants heard from local leaders that worked closely on the St. Edward Community Center project so the group could gain an understanding of how to begin and execute a community project.
This group’s project was to introduce the Bambino app to Boone County parents and babysitters. Upon graduation, the Academy has recruited 96 parents, 45 babysitters, and has had 10 completed bookings!
Graduate Reviews
Hear from past participants
Thank you to our Partners
These sponsors help to make leadership training accessible in Boone County.
HISTORY OF THE EMERGING LEADERS
In 2015, BCDA wanted to spearhead and revamp the county young professionals’ group, which was then known as the Boone County Young Leaders. With a new BCDA Executive Director, Michelle Olson, in place, she was tasked with taking over the existing group as Chairman. A committee was put into place and under new leadership the group underwent a brand change, becoming the Boone County Emerging Leaders, and a strategic plan was put into place in order to secure funding to elevate the group to the next level.