Research suggests that leadership and the way people feel about their communities are related to the overall success of rural communities (Ginsberg, 2011). When we think about how to make our communities a success, we need to direct our focus to the community leaders and how we can help them be successful in their skills and abilities.  By reaching those important leaders we can give them the tools they need to return to their communities with motivation and ideas.  This scenario led the way for discussion by the Northern Kentucky Area Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association (KEHA).  The leadership educational chairman, Mary Jane Day, with the help of Marlene McComas, a Grant County Extension Homemaker, expressed the to help our Homemakers, who are vital leaders in their communities, by providing them a leadership training.  The intention of this training was to focus on filling in the gaps of knowledge within KEHA as well as provide ideas for clubs and programs to take back and implement in their counties and communities.  

The evening program began with a quick welcome from the Leadership Chairman, Mary Jane Day, at which point she introduced our first guest speaker, Melody Stafford.  Melody has been involved in many things within her community in Owen County, but she also reaches out to other surrounding counties as well.  She is a wonderful motivational speaker and she brings the fun into everything she does.  She shared in her speech that “it is important to remember to be yourself, be confident, and have fun.”  After Melody wrapped up her speech, we lead into round table discussions where each KEHA Area Educational Chairman rotated to each table to have a brief discussion about their role within the organization and gave ideas that many expressed they were excited to take back to their communities.  The eight Educational Chairs include:  Cultural Arts & Heritage, Environment, Housing, & Energy, Family & Individual Development, Food, Nutrition, & Health, 4-H Youth Development, International/Global, Leadership Development, & Management & Safety.  One participant shared on their program evaluation that they learned “there’s money in budget to use for chair committee projects.”  

The program then led into Officer presentations where each Area Officer including President, Vice-President, Parliamentarian, Secretary, and Treasurer spoke about their roles and responsibilities.  This gave lots of great information and offered a chance for those unfamiliar with these positions to ask questions.  A couple of evaluation responses shared “I developed a better understanding of how the program works beginning at the state level and how it flows down to the area and then to the counties.” And “I feel more prepared and willing to step up into more roles knowing what is expected.”

The program ended with a second guest speaker, Ann Porter.  Ann is the KEHA State Leadership Chairman.  She was able to join us and share about her role in the organization at the state level as well as give some information about how to make Homemakers work at the county level.  She gave examples and ideas of things to try in recruiting as well as helping others step up into leadership roles.  Overall, from the evaluation participants learned and gained a greater understanding of the organization.  A couple quotes from participants include “I learned a lot about each chair. I have always wondered about some of them and now I know the answers” and  “The format of the meeting was great!”  There were 31 participants in this Leadership Training and each one shared at least one thing they learned and one thing they hoped to take back to their communities and put into action.  

References

Ginsberg, L. H. (2011). Introduction to basics of rural social work. In Social Work in Rural Communities (pp. 5- 20), Ginsberg, L. ed., 5th Ed. Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education.