3 graduate from program in leadership development

STAFF REPORT

PERRYSVILLE — Community Action Leadership Academy announces the graduation of three area participants from its leadership development program.

The academy is a hands-on training program that helps prepare employees of community action agencies for leadership positions within their agencies.

CALA’s curriculum provides leadership and management skill-building opportunities to professionals in community action agencies throughout all of Ohio’s 88 counties. This year, 21 people have participated in the yearlong professional development course.

The curriculum includes interactive sessions, small group work, individual class work and homework, site visits, team building exercises, lectures, required outside reading, mentoring with a senior manager, and an individual or group project.

The completion of the project is a requirement for graduation. The purpose is to apply leadership skills in the workplace, obtain administrative skills, create, modify or enhance a program that would benefit an agency or community, and create an opportunity for self-realization and development.

The projects are significant because they directly benefit community members and help to strengthen the participant’s agency.

Following are the three recent graduates, all from the Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership.

UMarilyn Brallier, Rural Route Specialist, whose project was Rural Senior Enhancement Project.

She created and organized the program for the rural areas of Mahoning County. Brallier organized events for seniors that enhanced their knowledge of the county and increased their quality of life.

The seniors visited the main MYCAP offices and learned of programs for seniors, explored local museums and visited a local nature center. Surveys afterward indicated that the seniors experienced fellowship and learned much about Mahoning County.

UJason Roller, Foodservice/Youth Enrichment Manager. His project was Developing a Perpetual Inventory System Using Bar Codes.

The new inventory system is to provide a more efficient way to manage the food service operation at MYCAP. The Weatherization department has also been involved in the selection of the barcode system, with the intention that other departments could also manage inventory this way.

After the bar code system and software are chosen, employees will be trained in the use of the new system.

ULuther Stubbs, Parent Involve- ment Manager. With his project, “Creating The Support Within,” Stubbs wanted to help unify the administrative support staff as a team and to promote its development by cross-training.

The goals were to increase staff skills and raise each member’s awareness as to how integral he or she is to the continued success of the organization.

He accomplished these goals by taking a survey of the staff, having regular meetings with administrative staff, teaching skills such as taking minutes and other administrative duties, and organizing a retreat to facilitate team unity.

The Community Action Leadership Academy is a program of the Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development with support from the Ohio Department of Development.

The keynote speaker at the CALA graduation luncheon was Bob Garbo.