UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EXTENSION
Statewide Leadership Committee
Vision
The vision for University of Illinois Extension’s Leadership and Volunteer Development base program is a world
in which all people have the wisdom, capacity, and passion to make a difference for public well being.
Mission
The mission of the Leadership and Volunteer Development Base Program is to enhance the capacity of diverse
people to take action to improve the well being of self, families, and communities.
Committee Membership
Darla Binkley, Livingston County Unit Leader * Earl Bricker, Adams Brown Extension CED Educator *
Kathie Brown, Macomb Center CED Educator* Kay Doll, Lake County Unit Leader * Ronald Duncan,
AJMP Unit Leader * Christina Foster, DuPage County Youth Development Educator * Tony Franklin,
Knox County Unit Leader * Al Kulczewski, Henderson – Mercer – Warren Counties Unit Leader *
Roger Larson, Peoria County Unit Leader * Ruby Lingle Springfield Center CED Educator * Jeri
Marxman, Extension Specialist Public Policy Education & CED Program Leader * Dave McMurtry,
Matteson Extension Center Prevention Educator * Leann Million, Adams Brown Counties Youth
Development Educator * Paula Robinson, Macoupin County Unit Leader * Amy Leman, Macon
County Youth Development Educator * Steve Wagoner, Edwardsville Center Youth Development
Educator * Anne Wend, Shelby County Youth Development Educator * Larry Wilson, Countryside
Extension Center CED Educator.
Review of Previous Community Leadership Development Efforts
Designing a Community Leadership Academy PDO, February 19, 2004 Recommendations
1.
Formation of a statewide community leadership committee.
2.
Develop an outcome evaluation process.
3.
Continue to collect examples of current leadership programming efforts.
4.
Find ways to bridge youth and adult leadership programming
Extension Leadership Programming Audit Fall ’03 Organizational Survey
During the fall of 2003, Unit Leaders throughout the state were asked to complete a survey
describing their unit’s involvement with community leadership programming.
1.
Seventeen different community leadership programs were identified throughout the state,
largely in the West Central and East Central Regions.
2.
The topics most frequently included in community leadership programming efforts included
the following: Understanding Local Government (15), Understanding the Regional Economics
and Economic Development Practices (14), Team Building (14), Leadership Styles (14),
Personality Types/ Colors (12), Visioning/Planning (11), Conflict Management (9), Leading
Effective Meetings (8), Community Service Project (8), Volunteerism (7), Understanding and
Dealing with Controversy (7), Community Leadership Structures (7), Communicating and
Listening (5).
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EXTENSION
Statewide Leadership Committee
Community Leadership Development Task Force Report, 1999 recommended that Extension adopt
two strategies:


An internal strategy through which Extension staff can strengthen their understanding of
leadership and enhance their leadership skills.
An external strategy which will strengthen Extension’s role in partnerships across and outside the
state by creating resources to teach community members about leadership and by creating the
intellectual foundation for leadership education. “Community” is used to describe communities
of place and communities of interest.
The committee recommended working on several prerequisites to achieve success in these
strategies:
1. A leadership specialist would play a major role in planning and designing directives outlined in
this report. The leadership specialist in the Department of Human and Community Development
would support efforts initiated by Extension Educators, Extension Specialists, and the Office of
Professional Development.
2. Create a Leadership Development Network of Extension staff. This group will form a learning
environment to be sustained by the organization. These members will identify themselves. From
this group, create a Community Leadership Development Steering Committee. The Steering
Committee will help Extension sustain both the internal and external strategies for the
community leadership initiative.
3. Identify or develop sources for recurring funding to provide organizational support for these
initiatives and support professional development opportunities for all staff.
Progress in 2005
Community Leadership Statewide Impact Evaluation Committee members collaborated with
University of Missouri to implement a statewide assessment of community leadership programming.
The evaluation will initially involve programs that have been in existence for 3-5 years and provide a
minimum of fourteen contact hours and five sessions. The instrument developed by University of
Missouri, has been utilized by numerous other states and will allow Illinois to benchmark their
programming achievements against similar programs. Over 600 past program participants will
participate in this survey evaluation project during the fall ’05. Staff will meet in early April ’06 to
review survey findings and discuss implications for programming modifications.
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EXTENSION
Statewide Leadership Committee
Leadership Competency Self Assessment by University of Illinois Extension Staff in conjunction with
Richard Clark, Assistant Dean of Professional Development, a system - wide assessment was
conducted in March of 2005 to guide future staff development activities. 122 staff members
completed the survey.
 The top two priorities for staff development in 2006 were identified as; Facilitation Training
and Leadership Theory in Programming and Practice.
 In addition, the committee recommended that more emphasis be given to academic and
popular leadership development current literature citations in professional development
opportunities.
 Appropriate technology specific to the leadership development process (e.g. option finder,
concept mapping etc.) will be integrated into planned leadership professional development
activities during the coming years.
 The top two priorities for staff development in 2007 were identified as; Visioning & Planning
and continued exploration of Leadership Literature.
 The top two priorities for staff development in 2008 were identified as; Development of
Learning Communities and continued exploration of Leadership Literature.
 The top two priorities for staff development in 2009 were identified as; Formal and Informal
Power structures in government, organizations & institutions, along with the continued
exploration of Leadership Literature.
Designing a Youth Community Leadership Program PDO March 30, 2005 Most leadership theorists
believe that the skills critical for effective leadership, including the capacity to understand and
interact with others, are developed most deeply in adolescence and young adulthood.
This one-day session was intended to be the start of an ongoing emphasis to strengthen youth and
community leadership programming in Illinois. Researchers highlighted how organizations connect
with youth, build communities and strengthen themselves during this daylong training.
Faculty from the Department of Human and Community Development in ACES, the National
Innovation Center for community and youth development, and University of Illinois Extension field
staff presented ways foundational research principles of youth leadership development translate into
effective programming in Illinois and all across the country. Forty staff members participated in this
one-day training. Staff represented Youth Development Educators, Community and Economic
Development Educators, Unit Leaders and two state specialists.
Staff listed the following key areas as important investments for Illinois Extension to strengthen
YOUTH Community Leadership Programming:
 Development of curriculum resources and statewide evaluations;
 Development of marketing materials to build community awareness and commitment for this
type of programming effort;
 Continue to cultivate partnerships among teams and offices to build programming in this
area;
 Create an on-line resource including program outlines, agendas; lesson plans in an easily
accessible format.
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EXTENSION
Statewide Leadership Committee
More to be accomplished




Develop a set of tools to use in teaching and learning leadership and distribute it widely. These
tools will support Extension staff as they learn more about leadership and seek new
opportunities to apply their leadership skills. Many of these tools will be products of the ongoing
research and application of findings in communities. CLD content and skill-building applications
will be developed in partnership with Extension and faculty. In addition, Extension will collaborate
with other regional and national land grant universities in the development, application, and
evaluation of these CLD tools.
Create a set of recommendations to develop, support, and sustain leadership development
efforts that includes best practices and easy-to-use tools.
Integrate what we learn into new versions of materials. For example, materials and programs will
reflect what we have documented and learned in the benchmarking and “best practices” efforts;
the research agenda will reflect what is current and relevant in the field; and more programs,
across content areas, will recognize and incorporate leadership.
Conduct an annual community leadership development conference with an emphasis towards
supporting community leadership programming.
Future Directions
The committee shares a general consensus that the group should stay together to continue work on
the above tasks. They feel strongly that linkages should be made with the Flagship Program Initiative
in University of Illinois Extension; with Children, Youth and Families At Risk (CYFAR) Sustainable
Community Projects; and with the Illinois Leadership Center on the University of Illinois campus. The
committee's future plan of work will involve current and new committee members.
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