My company used Leadership Louisville for a speaker series during our women's leadership meeting…read more Engaging with the team to describe our needs and ideas for thought leadership was easy to schedule and I enjoyed the discussion. Their team highlighted an existing program at Leadership Louisville and narrowed it down to our available time on the agenda. Cynthia Knapek was our speaker. She arrived at our meeting site and came prepared with the right balance of energy, storytelling, and data. She was the kick off speaker for our 2-day event and it set the right tone. Programs at Leadership Louisville will vary in length, commitment, and pricing. Besides Cynthia, other speakers offer their services. Check out their website for more details and reach out to schedule an initial meeting.

A couple of months after my Focus Louisville experience with Leadership Louisville, and I find…read moremyself still thinking about and referring back to it. I was impressed not only with the amount of information presented over the 2.5-day program but also the community that Leadership Louisville creates as well as how it seeks and succeeds at being a catalyst for positive change in Louisville. Louisville is so lucky have a nonprofit like Leadership Louisville. But let me back up: Leadership Louisville focuses on leadership development, civic engagement and professional development. And it does this through a handful fo key programs, as well as speaker and training events. I participated in Focus Louisville, which is Leadership Louisville's entry program. It offers "a more complete view and understanding of Louisville, along with a better sense of how to put leadership into action." And through this experience we heard from a plethora of community leaders on issues facing Louisville, including from leaders in the arts, education, economic development, local government, police, education, nonprofits and more. My favorite parts included the walking tour of downtown and the West End by former Councilman Tom Owen (a Louisville treasure), a field trip to a local elementary school and hearing directly from the Louisville Metro Council president and police chief. I thought I knew Louisville, but hearing from so many community leaders, who are clearly passionate about this city and open about its strengths and shortcomings, definitely opened my eyes. And the entire experience left me wanting to be a part of the solutions and work to make Louisville event better -- which I suppose was the whole point. I also think about the fact that my Leadership Louisville experience was only 2.5 days long; I expect that if I took part in one of their longer programs, which go for months to upward of a year, I would be even more motivated. Leadership Louisville's programs do cost a pretty penny. Focus Louisville cost $600, for example. But I was able to get some scholarship funds for part of this. Not sure if this is the case with all of the programs through this nonprofit, but it was fast and easy to apply for a scholarship. Leadership Louisville's recently renovated HQ downtown is also beautiful. It has several great meeting areas that foster communication. I'm looking forward to becoming a Leadership Louisville member and using this facility more, either for co-working or attending events. So like I said, Louisville is lucky to have Leadership Louisville. I'm looking forward to taking part in even more opportunities in the future.