Since it was founded in 1994, Leadership Big Bend has been carrying out its mission of training and promoting leaders for the tri-county area comprising Brewster, Jeff Davis, and Presidio Counties. Last August the board of directors made the difficult decision to cancel the 2014 class due to a small number of applications and rising program costs caused by escalations in the price of such items as meals, transportation, and printing. In addition, the program is now required to carry a liability insurance policy, an added expense which was not factored in when the amount of tuition was originally being considered. The only means the board had to help defray these costs was an increase in tuition; however, the decision was made that the current $225.00 tuition should be capped for the time being, as any further increase would make the program unaffordable or, at the very least, less attractive.
When the board met earlier this month, however, program coordinator Kathy Bork announced to the group that Leadership Big Bend had been awarded a grant from the Union Pacific Foundation in the amount of $5,000.00, which was to be used as the first step toward making the organization financially sustainable. While this grant will provide “seed money” for the 2015 class, board members agreed that other fund-raising avenues needed to be investigated. The board is asking Leadership Big Bend graduates to request and promote sponsorships at their respective workplaces with the goal being to match or exceed the Union Pacific grant, which is a one-time source of income and cannot be counted on in subsequent years. Fifty $100.00 sponsors would match our grant. Fifty $500.00 sponsors would sustain the program for several years!
To help us promote future participants, the board is also asking graduates to share their success stories, telling how Leadership Big Bend has impacted their lives and careers. We plan to share some of these stories in the coming months.
Enrollment is now open for the 2015 class of Leadership Big Bend and will remain open until July 1, 2014. The class meets once a month from September through May in one of the tri-county communities, with activities planned for the entire day. Programs involve county and local government officials, area education professionals, the art community, and McDonald Observatory. The highlight of the experience is an overnight trip “down south” to Big Bend National Park and Terlingua. Each class also takes responsibility for developing a group service project which benefits a nonprofit organization or other community need in the tri-county area.
Tuition is $225.00 per person, and class size is limited to twenty. Many individuals who participate are sponsored by their employer or a club, so please feel free to explore that option as well. Applications may be accessed at www.leadershipbigbend.org and should be returned to P.O. Box 242, Alpine, TX 79831 no later than July 1, 2014.
Leadership Big Bend is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all donations are tax-deductible.
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