Signature Program

Our Signature program targets established community leaders. Meeting on fourteen days over ten months, participants explore our region, human services, local government, arts and culture, and much more. They will meet local leaders and enjoy in-person site visits, and learn about the current challenges and opportunities in Colorado Springs. After completing the program, they are recognized as “community trustees;” citizens who have proven leadership skills, know our community, and take responsibility for shaping it. If you have questions, just call or email- we’d enjoy hearing from you.

More information on the Signature Program

Apply now

Leadership NOW! Program

Leadership NOW! offers young professionals (ages 22 to early 30’s) the opportunity to learn and develop their leadership skills in order to make an impact on the community as well as in their lives and careers. Over approximately four-months, starting in August, this immersion course combines leadership principles with personal and professional motivation, focusing on the participants’ civic-mindedness towards the ultimate goal of individual and collective impact.

More information on Leadership NOW!

Apply now

Leadership Pikes Peak’s mission is to provide a gateway for community engagement.   We have been offering community leadership education and development programs since 1979.  We now have over 1800 alumni of our programs serving throughout the community.

Help us reach people who are looking to get involved. For more information, visit www.LeadershipPikesPeak.org, or email lpp@leadershippikespeak.org.

The post Build Your Potential: Apply for an LPP Program Today! appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

Right now we are anxiously looking for projects for our teenagers (Leading Edge Program). If you have ideas for this group – please send them to us ASAP.  The absolute deadline is May 15 but I would love to have things earlier.   The teens will select project the week of June 10th and we hope they will finish their projects sometime in August.

Our Signature program (established leaders) and Leadership NOW program (young professionals) will select their projects in August and September and we would hope to see those project proposals by July 1st (or earlier).

Teen Project Information

Adult Project Information

I am excited to discuss any ideas you might have. Thank you for thinking of strategic and meaningful experiences that will help your organization – and give these leaders a great experience.

Warmly,

The post Need Help with a Project? appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

Participants will:

• Meet community decision-makers and industry leaders.
• Build new relationships and establish strong community ties.
• Experience the community “up close and personal” through behind the scenes site visits.

Our 2013 sessions are scheduled for July 10 & 11 and October 2 & 3. The $200 registration cost includes meals, materials and transportation. We offer a 10% discount for members of the Military & Veterans.

Learn more about Experience the Springs

For more information or to register for an upcoming session contact: becci@leadershippikespeak.org or call 719-632-2618

The post Experience the Springs! appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

Interested in exploring an LPP program? Already graduated from one? Join us at Phantom Canyon on Thursday, May 2 at 5:30 to mingle with other current and aspiring community leaders and ask us question about LPP! Bring friends.

RSVP here

The post Join Us for Happy Hour appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

April 27, 2013 from 9am- 12pm
El Paso Child Support Services Building
30 East Pikes Peak Avenue (next to the Melting Pot Restaurant)

Every Leadership Pikes Peak class works together on at least one group project in support of local charitable or civic projects. It’s one way LPP supports the community, and one way our leaders gain experience working together to make a difference.

This Saturday, the Women’s Community Leadership Initiative class of 2013 unveils the result of its project.

Wheels That Heal is a community based project spearheaded by the Women’s Community Leadership Initiative (WCLI) class of 2013, to benefit children and teens exposed to domestic and sexual violence. Wheels That Heal was launched in January 2013. The project started with a simple request from TESSA: a bike rack and bicycle maintenance for the children’s program of a local organization committed to building a community without domestic and sexual violence. Over the past few months, the project’s goals evolved from a simple bike rack and maintenance to a creating a Colorado Springs community legacy.

The mission: replace the old and broken bikes with new or gently used bikes, establish a continual volunteer maintenance plan, and develop a bicycle donation program that allows every child and teen that completes the program to take a bike when they leave.

In addition to being a good source for exercise, bicycling can reduces stress and depression and improve well-being and self-esteem. In order for our Wheels that Heal to Succeed we need to create community awareness. Community members and businesses can support Wheels that Heal by donating resources, time, skills, new or gently used bicycles or accessories, and gift certificates, etc.

Leadership Pikes Peak WCLI has joined with TESSA  in hosting a Wheels that Heal Bike Drive! on April 27, 2013 from 9am to 12pm. Join us in a helping support TESSA and the families overcoming domestic violence in Colorado Springs. 

For more information on the Colorado Springs Wheels that Heal Bike Drive,

visit www.facebook.com/pages/Wheels-That-Heal/389313801175572  or

email bikeracks4wcli@yahoo.com

The post WCLI Team Organizes Bike Drive to Support Victims of Domestic Violence appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

Our photographer, Sean Holveck, has posted event photos online–you can view them (and order a few!) here: http://holveckdesigns.zenfolio.com/lpp2013

Those of you who were at the gala got to hear a special story, but for those who didn’t, I wanted to share it:

On May 18 Teresa Ornelas will graduate Summa Cum Laude from Newman University with her Masters in Social Work.  Teresa graduated from our WCLI program in 2008 and has served on the WCLI steering committee. Teresa was motivated to start college at PPCC after taking WCLI, she felt the program gave her the confidence that she could do it.  If you attended the LPP Gala on April 6 you heard Teresa speak, and she was so inspirational. We are excited and proud of her. She is a great example of why we offer this free program. (You can congratulate Teresa at terisaornelas@hotmail.com!)

Upcoming Events:

Mother’s Day Victorian Tea, Saturday May 11, 2013. $15 per person. You are cordially invited to attend a special performance by Doris McCraw, featuring songs and creative works of the Victorian/Edwardian age. Tasty treats and decadent desserts await you in the historic Evergreen Chapel, completed in 1910. Proceeds from this event are used for restoration projects at Evergreen Cemetery. This event is hosted by The Evergreen Cemetery Benevolent Society. Reservations can be made online at http://evergreencemeterysociety.com.

CSBJ Power Lunch, May 22. Our community has been talking for years about using sports as an economic driver…the ground swell is happening and we are starting the journey to a great sports and wellness economy. Hear from four community experts (Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, Carmichael Training Systems and UCCS) about how our community is using sports today and how we will thrive tomorrow through sports tourism, research and development, manufacturing, entrepreneurship and more. This is your opportunity to see how you can be a part of this great movement. Register here http://csbj.ticketleap.com/power-lunch-/.

The post April News and Events appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

For one Leadership Pikes Peak annual event it was a visit to the greenest building in the city.

The 2013 Champions of Leadership event on April 6 traveled to the Olympic Training Center, a first-time visit for many guests.

Leadership Pikes Peak Executive Director Susan Saksa had succeeded once again.

Graduates of the LPP program’s classes, their guests and the evening’s honorees posed for photos in a bobsled, toured the Olympic Hall of Fame, supped on an international buffet in the spacious Sports Center where Coach Vitaly Marinich’s U.S. Men’s Olympic Gymnastics Team trains and watched a demonstration.

The 2013 LPP honorees were Mike Beagley, U.S. Olympic Committee, Emerging Leader Award; Kimberley Sherwood, Third Sector Group, Community Inspiration Leadership Award; Nathan Newbrough, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Modeling the Way Community Leadership Award; and Martha Barton, Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care, Makepeace Community Trustee Award.

Teresa Ornelas offered a first-hand testimonial about how an LPP program completely changed her life. She survived poverty, abuse and homelessness, worked two to three jobs as a single mother and pushed forward despite coming from a family of dominant Hispanic males who thought college was not for her because she’s a woman. An ad in The Gazette led her to apply for the Women’s Community Leadership Initiative program, she graduated in 2008 and in four years has earned her associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Now she has remarried, received major job offers and is a role model. “No one had ever told me I could lead, Ornelas said, to a standing ovation.

After a lively auction led by Kevin Patterson, the evening’s committee took a bow: co-chairs Tara Nolan and Jennifer Rauchut, Renee Maisel, Tammy Fields, Ron Stauffer, Sam Edwards, Emily Whiteman, Kasi Carter, Sara Garza, Gina Thayer, Amber Moro and Jeremy Wimer.

Presenting sponsors were American Medical Response, Hoff & Leigh and GE Johnson Construction.

*****

From the Colorado Springs Gazette.

The post The Gazette: “An evening of Olympics and leaders” appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

Special thanks to American Medical Response, Hoff & Leigh, and GE Johnson.

On April 6 2013, we ignited the torch of leadership through an evening of Olympic surprises, delicious food and drink, silent and live auctions, and the presentation of our four  community leadership awards:

Emerging Community Leader Award
Mike Beagley, U.S. Olympic Committee

Community Inspiration Leadership Award
Kimberley Sherwood, Third Sector Group

Modeling the Way Community Leadership Award
Nathan Newbrough, Colorado Springs Philharmonic

Makepeace Community Trustee Award
Martha Barton, Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care

You can learn more about the winners here.

If you have any questions about the event, contact us at lpp@leadershippikespeak.org.

The post Community Leaders Honored at Annual Gala appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

More information about the Gala can be found at www.leadershippikespeak.org/annualevent.

Kimberley Sherwood

Kimberley Sherwood is the 2013 winner of the Community Inspiration Leadership Award, which recognizes an outstanding volunteer who takes on a leadership role in community or non-profit organizations.  Her business, Third Sector Group, facilitates strategic planning for organizations including TESSA, KRCC, CASA and more. As a board member of Citizens Project, she has worked to promote civic engagement, diversity, and equality in our community.  A founder of the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR), her efforts have encouraged and supported arts and culture in Colorado Springs.  She has also worked with Cottonwood Center for the Arts, the Downtown Development Authority, and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.

Nathan Newbrough

The Modeling the Way Community Leadership Award, which honors a team-building leader who encourages others to get involved, will honor Nathan Newbrough, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.  Under his dynamic leadership, the orchestra has seen a reinvigorated program and a 170% increase in ticket sales.  The orchestra recently headlined the Waldo Canyon Benefit Concert at the World Arena, thanks largely to Newbrough’s efforts to partner with other local organizations including the Independent, Rocky Mountain PBS, and Focus on the Family.  He also supports the community through participation in COPPeR, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Regional Leadership Forum.

Mike Beagley

The Emerging Leader Award will be given to Mike Beagley.  This award recognizes a leader under age 35 whose professional or volunteer leadership exemplifies a willingness to lead and the highest standards of character and integrity.  Beagley has been active with Big Brother-Big Sisters and participated in board and fundraising activities.  He is a steering committee member and mentor for Leading Edge, LPP’s new teen leadership program.  He is Cultural Engagement Committee chair and steering committee member for the USOC’s Team USA Young Professionals, and has launched social and networking events to gather young people with established civic leaders.

Martha Barton

Martha Barton was selected to receive Leadership Pikes Peak’s highest accolade, the Makepeace Community Trustee Award.  This award, named for former Colorado Springs mayor Mary Lou Makepeace, honors a leader whose sustained involvement has had a broad and lasting impact on the Pikes Peak Community.  As president and CEO of Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care, Barton is leading the only non-profit hospice care organization in our community.  Over the past three decades, Barton and PPHPC have served more than 100,000 citizens with a staff of 250 professionals and 600 volunteers.  A tireless advocate for quality end-of-life care, she has led collaborative efforts and served a long list of organizations at the local, state, and national level, including the National Hospice Executives Roundtable, the Colorado Hospice Organization, and the Pikes Peak Forum for Health Care.

The post 2013 Community Leadership Award Winners appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.

Cassandra, who aspires to be an officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department, is an alum of the 2012 Leading Edge class. She and four of her classmates worked hard last fall to ensure that new students would learn about the high school leadership program. They wanted to give other students the same opportunity they had had, to build a future as a vital part of the Pikes Peak region community.

That opportunity, still in the early stages, has already made a difference in the lives of several of Cassandra’s classmates:

• Like Leigha, whose experience in the program has led her to work personally with county commissioners and philanthropists to improve healthcare for foster kids.
• Or Richard, a quiet introvert who built so much self-confidence and civic spirit that he is now involved in efforts to provide computer tech support for senior citizens.
• Or Jeff, whose family is poor, yet whose efforts to increase independence for people with disabilities have made him friends in every level of Colorado Springs society.

Leading Edge is designed to show students that they can make a powerful difference right now, and begin a lifetime of effective service. (To learn more about Leading Edge and how students can apply, click here. Applications for summer 2013 are due April 5.)

Here is the text of the letter Cassandra sent to local school counselors:

Dear High School Counselor,

My name is Cassandra Bachman. I am currently a junior at Discovery Canyon High School. Last summer, and through January of this year, I had the privilege to be part of the inaugural Leading Edge class of Leadership Pikes Peak.

The Leading Edge program has definitely helped me become a better leader by enabling me to gain better public speaking and communication skills, team dynamics and providing me an overview of how our community and government function.

The program also influenced me to become more involved with the community, such as joining the Colorado Springs Police Department Cadet Explorers.

When I first arrived at Leading Edge, I didn’t know what to expect. I was nervous and a bit scared because I was going to be spending four full days with people I didn’t know. I was concerned that I wouldn’t make friends, but after that first day I quickly became close with everyone. They were some of the friendliest people I had ever worked with. The places we visited were probably the best part of the program. They gave me a better perspective into the community instead of only going by assumptions. I didn’t know the numerous opportunities there are for citizens to get involved in the community.

At the end of the four days we were assigned a community group project. My group’s project was to help improve Leading Edge for next year’s participants and to come up with ways to get more teens interested in the program. My group and I decided to develop 14 informational kits and deliver them to the counselors of high school across the city. I hope these kits will persuade you to reach out to your students and try and get them to apply for this program.

I had an extremely memorable and educational experience as part of the Leading Edge program. The activities in which our group participated helped give me an understanding of myself as well as the other participants. I will never forget my experience with Leading Edge.

The deadline for students to apply is soon, so please don’t hesitate to distribute the brochures and encourage your students to apply.

Sincerely,

Cassandra Bachman, 11^th grade, Discovery Canyon High School

The post “I Will Never Forget My Experience:” A Student’s Story of Leading Edge appeared first on Leadership Pikes Peak.