Leadership Texarkana graduates 45 students
Forty-five Texarkana area residents completing the year-long Leadership Texarkana community leadership program were honored by the Leadership Texarkana organization at the End of Year Celebration after-hours May 2 at the Arkansas Convention Center. The Sponsoring Partner for the event was State Bank.
Through their involvement in Leadership Texarkana sessions, program participants were given frameworks for understanding the leadership required to lead the community. They also explored the challenges and opportunities in the greater Texarkana area involving economic development, health care, government and courts, quality-of-life initiatives, public and higher education, media and the private -public and nonprofit sectors.
Participants developed and articulated individual plans for taking active service and leadership roles in the community. The also were charged with providing content for the organization’s weekly blasts of “What’s To Love Txk!”.
At each monthly session, the LT Class of 2023 participated in Strategic Doing-focused groups to lead the way as change agents. The idea was to consider ways to maximize the Texarkana area’s capacity to attract, retain and unleash the talent foundational for excellence.
“By doing so, class members were also learning the basics of the powerful and proven Strategic Doing processes for gathering groups to work together for progress in a region like ours, in which multiple entities are needed for effecting change–a skill Leadership Texarkana believes is the single most important leadership capacity for a community leader in Texarkana, and one which is a foundational priority for ecosystem transformation,” according to a news release.
The Strategic Doing teams pursued:
• brainstorming beautification projects downtown to enhance and foster quality places that are attractive;
• developing GOTXK content to bust the myth that there is little for children to do in Texarkana;
• creating GOTXK content to attract young professionals to Texarkana and to engage them in the city;
• laying the foundation for a pipeline of teen content in the GOTXK resources;
• increasing the visibility and awareness of gotxk.org as a portal to the community calendar;
• developing rack cards for the airport, hotels and other hospitality outlets to direct visitors to the GOTXK site, where they could find a calendar of events and a listing of local attractions; and
• celebrating youth who join the local workforce, specifically partnering with Ledwell to recognize local signings.
The majority of the teams launched, and work on the projects is expected to continue.
Leadership Texarkana Executive Director Ruth Ellen Whitt said it was a privilege to work with another group of people committed to make a difference in the community.