Going to School in Nevada County

TheUnion - June 19, 2004
Richard Somerville, Editor

We started nine months ago making paper airplanes, and we finished on Friday by sitting in a circle, bouncing a soccer ball back and forth and describing how the Nevada County Community Leadership Institute has changed our lives.

In between, these 21 people - some newcomers, others whose families go back 150 years in the county - met key community leaders, soaked up details about land use and economic development, danced in circles like Twyla Tharp, toured institutions as diverse as a creative charter school and a cell block full of felons, polished leadership skills, and had more laughs than you could count.

The institute, sponsored by Sierra College, the Grass Valley/Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, the United Way, and the Nevada County Business Association, began in 1996 with the goal of helping leaders or future leaders in all walks of life learn about where we live, discover who our neighbors are, and understand the issues besetting the community.

No more than 25 applicants are selected each year, and they have to promise to attend an initial two-day retreat in September and then one Friday a month through June. The cost ($650, paid either by the applicants or their employer) is cheap at twice the price, and includes great lunches, too.

I first heard about NCCLI soon after arriving here in 2002, when I was asked to sit on a panel representing Nevada County media at the opening retreat for the last class. The names were a blur to me at that time, but I realized later that they included a county supervisor and a future supervisor candidate, a Grass Valley councilman, the Nevada City city manager, and leaders of nonprofit organizations and businesses.

I realized that if I hoped to acquire the depth of knowledge necessary to be the editor of this county's daily newspaper, I had to jump into this program the next time it rolled around.

Who was in the Leadership Institute's class of 2004? An eclectic bunch providing a wide range of perspectives: a fire chief, a banker, an attorney/yoga teacher, a civil engineer, heads of key county departments, an accountant, a policewoman, and many people heading businesses, nonprofits and professional organizations.