LEADERSHIP ACADEMY BOARD MEMBERS

ACADEMY PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

The Fountain Hills Leadership Academy is a rewarding program that extends well beyond the initial weekly class sessions and progressively leads to becoming a part of the growing Alumni Community. Each year, the Academy accepts only 15-20 candidates. Throughout the program, each participant is expected to be fully committed and fulfill the following requirements:

• Join fellow classmates for the Academy program orientation and get acquainted gathering.

• Actively participate in the 8-week Academy program.  Classes are held once per week, generally 8 am to 1 pm, but may go longer. With the exception of illness or family emergency, absences are generally not permitted.

• Conceptualize, research and present a Project that identifies a solution for an area of our community that may be improved.  Projects may be done individually or as teams with fellow program participants.

• Volunteer to assist—as a team—with the annual Poinsettia Tree project, an I Love Fountain Hills fundraiser, including promotion, sales, resource coordination and project execution.

• Lead, plan and carry out —from beginning to end—the entire Leadership Academy experience for the next year’s incoming class.  This will include a series of planning meetings, starting shortly after graduation and continuing through November of the following year.  All class members will automatically become a part of the Planning Committee responsible for overseeing and coordinating the next Leadership class including:

  • Establishing the weekly class schedule

  • Proctoring class sessions

  • Coordinating speakers

  • Engaging sponsors

  • Managing the entire program experience from the candidate’s application to graduation

• Maintain an annual membership in the I Love Fountain Hill organization, also known as Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association (FHCCA)

Once accepted in the program, you will receive a welcome letter from the Leadership Academy Board of Directors.  To register for the Leadership Academy program, payment of a non-refundable $250 tuition fee is required. The fee covers an initial year of membership in I Love Fountain HIlls, the Leadership Academy program materials and also partially offsets other class related costs.

THE ACADEMY SESSIONS MAY INCLUDE:

• Sanitary District & Environmental Stewardship

• Know Your Town Government

• Fountain Hills Schools

• Public Safety

• Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation

• Business Development & Community Leadership Skills

• Local Non-profits & Community Services

• Cultural and Civic Engagement

Preceding the Leadership Academy sessions, class members will also come together for a program orientation and get acquainted gathering. 

At graduation, either working in teams or individually, participants present a project based on what they’ve learned throughout the eight week program and propose what they would do to improve our community. Past projects have included addressing wrong-way drivers on Palisades Blvd, creating an arts district in the downtown, recognizing outstanding students, enhancing public transportation services for employees who don’t live in town, and more.