Lakeland Business Guide 2019 Chamber Guide_2019 | Page 65

Leadership Lakeland not only exposes participants
to the broader perspective of Lakeland, it also unites
leaders for the continued growth of a beloved city.
P
rior to participating in
Leadership Lakeland,
current class member
Bethany Thomas admits,
“I was very reluctant to apply at first.”
Thomas is the vice president for student
development at Southeastern University,
and, like many others who have been a
part of Leadership Lakeland classes, was
nominated to apply for the program.
“Being from Lakeland, I was very
reluctant because I felt like I already
knew a lot of people in Lakeland and did
not know if I would really have time to
invest,” she says.
However, after being only halfway
through Leadership Lakeland’s current
class, Thomas has been amazed at “how in
a short time, complete strangers can feel
like family.”
Leadership Lakeland was first
established in 1983 through the vision
and volunteer leadership of Dr. Jere
Annis, Mr. Gene Engle, Mr. Duane
McConnell, and Mr. Tom Moore. Since
then, Leadership Lakeland has led 36
classes through its program designed and
dedicated to enhancing the long-term
leadership of the Lakeland community.
“Planning for the future requires an
understanding of the many different
components of the community,” says
Sarah Breed, the Lakeland Chamber
of Commerce’s director of initiatives
and program director for Leadership
Lakeland. “Leadership Lakeland focuses
on major areas of community interest
and concern.” Among these areas are
government and politics, economic
development, the environment, criminal
justice, business, the arts, education,
communications and the media, and
health and human services.
Leadership Lakeland begins every
year with a nomination process that takes
place in March. Shortly after, nominees
are sent an application which is then used
to determine who the participants will be
for that class.
“Participants are selected from various
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