A non-profit organization whose mission is to seek, prepare, involve, and sustain leaders from diverse backgrounds to address community and county-wide challenges. Leaders are not an elite group. They’re ordinary citizens who help their communities, organizations, and workplaces accomplish what needs to be done.

Since 1993, Leadership Hendricks County (LHC) has brought hundreds of people together to learn more about leadership and to gain insight into our county’s challenges. LHC graduates become part of a formal and informal network of community leaders who step up to make Hendricks County better.

Leadership Hendricks County consists of separate adult and youth programs, as well as a Youth Encouraging Philanthropy program.

Each year, a diverse group of 25 participants are selected from a pool of applicants. Class members meet monthly from January through November to study the many facets of life in Hendricks County. These include education, economic development, quality of life, government, agriculture, transportation, industry, social services, and public safety. Each class member also participates in a team project designed to study and address a community challenge.

Applications for the 2012 class are due no later than December 1, 2011.

The youth program is designed for high school sophomores and its schedule is synchronized with the school year. Five students from each of the county’s six public high schools and a few students from private/home schools are chosen for the program. Class members meet monthly to learn about the many components of life in Hendricks County. These include government, business, agriculture, “life’s realities”, and infrastructure.

The Youth Encouraging Philanthropy (YEP) program is designed for high school juniors or seniors that want to promote philanthropy in their community. Up to 10 students from each public high school and some private/home school students are selected. The program consists of class sessions covering topics like creative thinking, parliamentary procedure, presentation skills, and community agencies.