Nearly two decades ago, Leadership Akron made its debut. Our 1984 inception took place as the leadership, dominated by a handful of prominent industrialists, was passing from the scene in the 1980’s. The process to help develop new community leaders was spearheaded by Paul Poorman, editor of the Beacon Journal and civic activist Barbara Hiney, then the director of the Goals for Greater Akron program at the Akron Regional Development Board (now known as the Greater Akron Chamber).

Paul Poorman and Barbara Hiney brought together a group of business and civic leaders. They spoke to them about their vision of building a program in response to the pressing need for informed, inspired and committed leaders. It was agreed that the early selection and training of leaders was far too important a function to be left to chance. In their vision, such a program would also serve as a mechanism by which new leaders could be brought into the fold and by which leaders with diverse backgrounds, positions and interests could come together for social interaction, dialogue and creative problem solving. At that time, there were about 100 Leadership Programs across the country.

While much has changed over the years, the idea of selecting leaders for a rigorous, interactive curriculum to be engaged in all aspects of the greater Akron community remains the foundation on which twenty-one successful Leadership Akron classes have been built. Since 1984, just over 600 men and women, representing the diversity of our community, have completed this program and have taken their places as leaders in the community. There are now more than 700 leadership programs in the United States and programs are beginning to flourish in Canada and abroad.

The true impact of Leadership Akron is hard to measure. Many of Akron’s CEOs, educators, judges, entrepreneurs, public officials, nonprofit leaders and other professionals are graduates of the program. Leadership Akron graduates hold key volunteer leadership roles throughout our community. Through its network of graduates, Leadership Akron has been an instrument of positive change through many diverse and far-reaching initiatives.

Twenty-one years later, Leadership Akron functions according to the same basic structure and principals that were established at its founding. In 1999, the Board of Trustees of Leadership Akron set in motion the incorporation of the program. Leadership Akron is now an independent, nonprofit educational organization.

Since its inception, Leadership Akron has relied upon the broad support of the community to provide the means for participants the means for participants to further expand their knowledge about the community and to develop leadership skills. Tuition fees provide only a portion of the revenue required to operate the program. We are deeply grateful to our Corporate Partners and Foundation Partners for their continued financial assistance to the Leadership Akron program.

To further secure the financial stability of the program, the trustees and graduates, with major support from our Foundation Partners, worked together to build an Endowment Fund. In respect for the strong corporate support that has been provided for nearly twenty years, no corporate partners were asked to support the Endowment Fund.

Leadership Akron is a member of the Community Leadership Association (CLA).