In May, the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce announced plans to launch a revamped “Leadership Marshalltown” class as part of an effort to honor and continue the 30-year legacy of the Iowa Valley Leadership Program. The organization just got more good news as the class will now include an official curriculum from the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) thanks to a contribution from the Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation.

“Investing in the next generation of leadership through the KLC program demonstrates this partnership’s commitment to building the skills required to the evolving, long-term, leadership needs required to find solutions to our community challenges,” Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation Executive Director Heidi Pierson Dalal said.

As Chamber Workforce Development Coordinator Kyle Hall explained, the lack of a dedicated core curriculum was an issue he hoped to address once the new class starts, and he believes working with the KLC will do so.

“Where there were tours and speakers and different things like that, there was no real leadership curriculum on how the individual, at the end of the course, was truly a better leader,” Hall said. “Community wise, they understood the community better and could be a better community member, but that individual, that person that was taking the course, how were they truly a better leader as an individual or as an employee for whoever they work for?”

In all, Hall added, it took about three to four months of serious conversations to properly reconfigure the scope of the class and find the right curriculum, but the Wichita-based organization, which sent representatives to Marshalltown for a listening session at Van Gogh’s in March, turned out to be the perfect fit. Past graduates of the leadership course, according to Hall, have been more likely to engage in the community both through volunteer opportunities and even running for elected office.

“It’s really (for) anybody that wants to be a better leader, and it’s designed to be just that. So the CEO of a company could come and take this, and we might have an entry level manager in the class as well,” he said. “We might have an HR manager and a retired individual. We might have a bunch of just different levels of management, because there’s no true age. Leadership is a skill that’s developed. You can learn it at any age, and you can grow it at any age.”

Hall is himself a past graduate of the Iowa Valley Leadership Program five years ago, and he said the experience opened doors and offered networking opportunities with several other professionals he still keeps in contact with from around the area.

Applications for the course will be accepted until Aug. 5, and they will then be reviewed with up to 25 potential spots available. The course will begin with a two-day kickoff on Sept. 15 and 16 before continuing with monthly sessions until May of 2023.

“It’s really exciting to see what it’s going to become and what the next few years can really mean for Marshall County as we get people through this course,” Hall said. “I think that acquiring new leadership skills, learning about local issues and resources, (and) the opportunity to connect with community leaders, it really helps you grow your network and grow your knowledge throughout the community all while adding the leadership skills to it. It’s a win-win across the board.”

For more information and to apply for the class, visit marshalltown.org/leadership or reach out to Kyle Hall at khall@marshalltown.org.

——

Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.