Collaborative Partners:

Sarah Congleton, UK Cooperative Extension, Montgomery County

Ron Catchen, UK Cooperative Extension, Montgomery County

Dan Kahl, UK Extension, CLD Associate Professor, Blueprint Kentucky

Adriana Palmer, KSU Community Leadership Specialist

Amy Cloud, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives.

Solutions to the community and economic development needs prioritized in the latest UK Cooperative Extension Service assessment (https://extension.ca.uky.edu/community-assessment)  are predicated on the capacity for collective problem solving and leadership. Most directly, the identified need for “creating inclusive involvement of diverse populations in community efforts/events and decision making”, and “building the capacity of local non-profits and community leaders”, are foundational priorities that, when practiced effectively, will support the achievement of the other identified priorities.

The partner team includes representation of the University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives. This partnership stives to support and elevate the success of community-based Cooperative Extension and Chamber of Commerce leadership programs. Building on the successes of the Kentucky Community Leadership Programs Network (KCLPN) summits in 2023 and 2024, the team responded to requests for more facilitation support for program leaders. In May and June of 2025, the team hosted three one-day workshops in East, West, and central Kentucky.  The events were hosted at Cooperative Extension facilities and Leadership Centers and included presentations from local leadership educators.  Marketing for the event encouraged participation by leadership program facilitators, day hosts, and program planning team members. The KCPLN planning team designed and facilitated the workshops. Each workshop highlighted the importance of establishing clear and measurable goals for leadership development and provided tools and resources for setting those goals and assessing growth in leadership skills.

Impact Summary:

The combined workshops engaged 100 participants in facilitation training. From those participants, 74 completed evaluation reports to provide feedback on the workshop. Of the received evaluations, 77% rated the quality of the training as “excellent”, and 19% as “good”.  Participants appreciated the concept of “building backwards” and improved planning for goal assessment. The practice of evaluation techniques and the tools provided to assist with evaluation were also noted as important. All participants noted that the training provided is likely to be utilized. Eighty-eight percent noted they were “Very likely” to apply what they learned, while twelve percent noted they were “somewhat likely”. While these were immediate responses to the workshop, the KCLPN team is committed to tracking the use of materials and processes shared with local leadership programs. We look forward to continuing reporting on the impact of how this partnership is improving the quality and success of leadership programming across Kentucky.