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LeadAR offers leadership training to challenge seekers
Arkansas
LeadAR offers leadership training to people seeking a challenge
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service is looking for people who want to make a difference in their communities and the state.
Extension will train them for leadership roles, said Dr. Joe Waldrum, coordinator for LeadAR, the Arkansas Agricultural and Rural Leadership Program.
LeadAR is now accepting applications for Class 12.
Waldrum said LeadAR is an innovative program that teaches participants to understand public issues and provides them with expertise in dealing with critical problems facing Arkansas.
"The program gives participants a chance to broaden their knowledge and outlook, develop leadership skills, network and gain confidence in their abilities," Waldrum said.
Arkansas needs capable leaders, Waldrum said, because "many social and economic problems face Arkansas agriculture, communities and rural areas."
He noted that rural Arkansas isn't isolated. Its boundaries now extend around the world as national and international forces profoundly affect rural life.
"Rural Arkansas is increasingly influenced by decisions made in Washington, D.C., on farm and environmental matters; in New York corporate headquarters on employment in Arkansas manufacturing or industrial plants; or in Brussels, London, or Tokyo on international trade and finance."
About 300 people have graduated from the program since it was introduced in 1984. Previous graduates of the program have succeeded in pushing through needed programs or construction in their communities and running for and winning local and state office, according to Waldrum.
In the two-year program, class members study, in depth, the issues facing their communities, state and country. The program includes a national study tour to Washington where class members make connections inside the Beltway.
It also includes an international study tour, which allows them to see how other countries handle trade and other issues, and make connections that might help their communities. Recent classes have made trips to Bolivia, Canada, Australia, Vietnam and Scotland.
For more information or an application, contact Waldrum or Dot Temple at 501-671-2076 or call your county Extension agent. The Cooperative Extension Service is a part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
Date: 7/22/04
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