Leadership 29 Working to Expand Local Capacity

Published: 2019
By Jennifer Anderson

Rosebud County’s first ever community-based leadership program, Leadership 29, took form thanks to the vision and guidance of MSU Extension Agent Jennifer Anderson. Leadership 29 encourages local people to become informed, engaged and skilled leaders. It brings people from across the county together to build relationships, learn about current resources and issues and provide folks with the opportunity to increase their own skills such as conflict resolution, communication, generational differences, personality and leadership styles. In its first year, Leadership 29 has attracted the participation of individuals across the county representing businesses, schools, government agencies, non-profit organizations and more. With just a couple sessions completed, the positive feedback and rippling impact within the communities is surging. Because of what they have learned in these sessions, individual entities are requesting additional leadership training for staff. Likewise, participants are sharing what they have learned about local resources with employees. After just the first session one participant stated, “I’ve lived in Rosebud County for over thirty years and I didn’t know this…” Expanded leadership capacity is vital to rural communities. Recent research conducted at the University of Minnesota suggests rural communities lack leaders and need more people to take on leadership roles. Anderson explains the importance, “our small-towns are changing, many are facing tough futures and if we want them to be sustainable and vibrant, we must collectively work together and invest in the people who call these wonderful places home. Increased leadership capacity will result in better decision making.”