The community was formed in 2010 when a group of AAFCS leaders realized that there was a need for leadership training for succession planning. The main purpose of the community is to build leadership capacity among members as future leaders of the association and profession. The implementation of the Leadership Academy in 2013 brought the vision into reality through a cohort of new professionals being trained to assume leadership positions in committees, communities, councils, and as elected officers nationally or at the affiliate level in AAFCS. Focusing on new leaders, the Academy addresses competencies needed for assessing one’s attributes and skills in Leading Yourself, Leading Others, and Leading AAFCS. The biannual AAFCS Leadership Academy is the focus of the community’s work.
Community members work together to continually research and disseminate information about best practices in leadership development.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- planning and implementing the leadership academy
- writing research articles and making presentations and
- following and reporting the results of leadership training efforts of academy alumni, mentors, and all involved in the community activities.
Activities of the community related to the leadership academy include:
- setting the guidelines
- compiling, researching and updating the body of knowledge for the Academy
- selecting Academy faculty from our own seasoned professionals
- establishing guidelines for cohort service projects
- designing and implementing evaluations of the various aspects of the Academy, and
- developing a funding strategy to perpetuate the Academy.