For the past eight years, the North Lake Tahoe-Truckee Leadership Program has been creating opportunities for potential leaders to broaden their understanding of the region and its issues while developing and honing their leadership skills.

Led by Shannon Beets, vice president for Institutional Effectiveness and associate provost at Sierra Nevada College, the program tasks participants with designing a one-year action plan to improve Tahoe with less than $5,000 to work with, culminating in real-world projects that benefit their communities.

Beets, and a veteran team of SNC professors, use books, workshops, lectures and applied learning activities to enable participants to explore current ideas in the field of leadership and give them the skills to implement those ideas in their jobs and in their community. The program provides a structured and supported environment for the necessary phases of project development and execution, including program rationale, needs assessment, proposed budgeting and time line, community outreach and collaboration, and strategic communication plans.

The five-month program runs from January through May, with meetings scheduled Jan. 12, Feb. 2, March 2, April 6 and May 11.

The North Lake Tahoe-Truckee Leadership Program is a collaborative project of the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce, North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, and the North Tahoe Business Association.

For more information about the program, contact Katrina Midgley at (775) 831.1314, ext. 7517 or kmidgley@sierranevada.edu.