Leadership Howard County (LHC) and Loyola University Maryland have a combined half-century of experience in providing Howard County leaders with the tools and education they need to succeed in their fields and make positive contributions to their communities. Now, collaboration between the two will offer area leaders additional resources for building their skills.
Beginning in September, Loyola’s Sellinger School of Business and Management and Leadership Howard County will work together to offer Leadership Essentials, a six-month, non-credit leadership development program for emerging professionals. The joint venture aims to help the program — which was launched by LHC in 2007 and has served more than 80 local emerging leaders — continue its growth.
Designed to address the gap between the skills provided by formal education and the full development of seasoned professionals, Leadership Essentials offers a skill-building program that includes three components: monthly workshops, individual coaching and team-based projects that address the needs of local nonprofit organizations.
Loyola will provide overall administration program space and access to campus resources and faculty, and will contribute to the pipeline of consulting opportunities for the program.
“Leadership Essentials places young professionals on the main stage of Howard County community affairs, and the resources that Loyola brings to the table could make the program a springboard for state and national involvement as well,” said 2009 Leadership Essentials graduate Jesse Guercio, a mental health program manager at Humanim Inc. “I think this affiliation will have a powerful synergistic effect and I’m excited to see what the future holds for these organizations.”
The collaboration also gives the university, which has offered graduate business programs in Columbia for more than 30 years, an opportunity to strengthen its already-vital ties to the Howard County community.
Leadership Essentials is now recruiting for its next class, which begins in January 2012 at Loyola’s Graduate Center–Columbia Campus. Applicants must live or work in Howard County and should demonstrate a commitment to developing as leaders and a strong interest in participating in community service. The deadline to apply is Oct. 7.
Happy hours will be held for interested applicants on July 12 at Union Jack’s in Columbia Town Center and on Aug. 23 at the Stanford Grill, also in Columbia.
Applicants may contact Assistant Dean Ann Attanasio at leadership@loyola.edu or visit www.loyola.edu/sellinger for more information.
