Four members of the Southwestern Commission Staff (Kellie Dula, Laura Grindstaff, Linda Lamp, and Sarajane Melton) graduated from the Homegrown Leaders program, a regional leadership and economic development program that develops and supports highly-motivated leaders who are committed to building regional collaboration across multi-county regions in the state. Homegrown Le aders is a program of the Rural Center and is sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) along with corporate, government and philanthropic partners. This Homegrown Leaders training was held at Western Carolina University on May 29 – 31, 2019.
Certificates were presented to the program’s 16 graduates on the last day of training. “Rural leaders like our Homegrown Leaders graduates are critical to the long-term growth and vitality of North Carolina’s communities,” said Patrick Woodie, NC Rural Center president.
Class participants included economic development professionals, educators, and civic and nonprofit leaders. “The Rural Center promotes leadership that is inclusive, connected, informed and creative. These graduates will join the Rural Center’s leadership alumni network of over 1,200 rural leaders across the state of North Carolina,” said Bronwyn Lucas, director of leadership for the NC Rural Center.
To date, the Rural Center has provided three Homegrown Leaders trainings across the Appalachian Regional Commission’s NC counties with the fourth and final training in the fall of 2019. For more information, visit the Rural Center’s website.
About the NC Rural Center
For 30 years, the NC Rural Center has worked to develop, promote, and implement sound economic strategies to improve the quality of life of rural North Carolinians. The Rural Center serves the state’s 80 rural counties, with a special focus on individuals with low to moderate incomes and communities with limited resources.
