Junior Leadership Forum

The flagship annual event for the Leadership San Angelo Alumni Association is the Junior Leadership Forum. Held in October, the forum brings more than 100 ninth grade students from Tom Green County together for a one-day training session on how to gain leadership skills and utilize those skills they already possess. Students who show capacity for leadership, but are not necessarily in current leadership roles, are selected for participation by the officials from each school.

Speakers at the event have included local leaders such as, State Representative Robert Junell, State Senator Robert Duncan, Pastor Ralph Dawkins, Reverend Carl Rohlfs, Honorable Judge Dick Alcala, Honorable Judge Barbara Walther, David Hirschfeld, Diana Kirking, Berta Perez Linton, Brenda Morales, Charles Njemanze, Todd Sanford, and Willie Tambunga.

Facilitators for the workshop sessions are graduates of the Leadership San Angelo program.

In 1997, LSAAA directors Sheri Jones and Julie Vann forged a partnership with the John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute. The institute is based at the University of Texas--Permian Basin campus in Odessa and provides local facilitator training and student curriculum free of charge for the Junior Leadership Forum.

Volunteers from the LSAAA membership and LSA graduates are needed to not only facilitate but organize the entire event. The forum committee consists of:

• An Event Chair or Co-chairs - coordinate committee and oversee entire event
• Facilitator Chair - recruits at least 20 volunteer facilitators, coordinates facilitator training with the LBS Leadership Institute, and oversees facilitators on forum day
• Fund Raising Chair - raises sponsorship money to cover cost of facility and meal, gathers promotional items from businesses to include in a student "goody bag"
• Program Chair - contacts keynote speakers for the morning and afternoon general sessions; contacts 15-20 community leaders to share lunch with students and tell briefly why leadership is important to them
• Publicity Chair - sends out news releases and follows up with media coverage
• JBS Contact Person - trains facilitators, brings student workbooks, workshop material, student name tags, speaks briefly at luncheon.