Launching the UCB Leadership Program

In 2021, UCB embarked on a new three-year Strategic Plan and a journey to create a new leadership development program. It first began with creating and hiring a new position, the Director of Leadership. With the role filled, the work began immediately to design a program that could be transformative for our members.

challenge their community is facing. The 2nd tier titled UCB Leads invites leaders who are ready to take action and launch their initiatives, creating benefit and impact for the entire UCB community. An additional program, UCB Facilitates, is focused on facilitation training for a select cohort that wants to lead workshop training sessions for the UCB community.

Beginning in November 2021, our new Director of Leadership, Dennis Hicks, gathered insight from members, staff, and partners to design a curriculum for the leadership program. Piloting in the summer of 2022, UCB launched our first pathway titled UCB Learns with 26 UCB Members. Participants learned the principles of the Public Narrative and explored their call to lead others in an effort to make a difference in an urgent

Investing in our members’ leadership development has two reciprocal benefits. First, individual leaders develop their professional skills, which they can utilize in a multitude of capacities and increase their opportunities for employment and impact. Second, the efforts that leaders launch and grow directly benefit our members, who utilize the services they provide, patronize the businesses they launch, and benefit from the civic actions and policies that they influence.