BACKGROUND

In 1995, MASWCD began development of a leadership program with the goal of enhancing the leadership and capabilities of SWCDs in Minnesota.  MASWCD realized that in order to have a strong organization, we needed to keep the leadership moving and growing.  Understanding that being a leader takes hard work and guidance, MASWCD worked with the University of Minnesota Extension Service to craft a several month program (eight two-day institutes) that would bring to SWCD participants the necessary skills to be leaders in the conservation movement in Minnesota.  The overall design was structured to support individual and organizational leadership development and to provide an opportunity for participants to apply the ideas and skills they are learning to actual SWCD priority issues they identify during the program.  The first leadership program took place April, 1996 – September, 1997.

Over the past few years, most of the Douglas SWCD staff have attended and graduated.