On March 13, Grand Valley State University’s Laker Leadership Programs will host the first of three Community Leader Seminars.

Students can register for the seminars, and must attend all three in order to be considered a CLS graduate, according to the Laker Leadership Programs website.

“The CSL is a program geared towards our advanced leaders,” said Sarah Wojnicki of the Office of Student Life, Leadership Development. “This three-week program will give students the opportunity to learn about how to lead their own community and become a civically engaged leader.”

The series is interactive, and will be held on Wednesdays during the last half of GVSU’s winter semester. The seminars will focus on developing attendees’ leadership skills within society as well as in their own lives.

Those who attend will also be able to learn how their experiences at GVSU can be transferred “far beyond the reaches of this campus, to affect their future workplaces or communities,” according to the website.

“Students will be traveling to a nonprofit site and learning about its own leadership history as well as participate in a service learning activity,” Wojnicki said.

The Laker Leadership Programs’ mission “is to provide GVSU students with training, education, and experiences which encourage growth as life-long leaders of integrity and social change within their lives, professions, and communities,” according to their website.The group believes that leadership can be learned, and that “even experienced leaders can learn new concepts.”

They also “support the notion that leadership is a collaborative group process that is inclusive of all participants and therefore not focused on an individual but instead on the relationship between group members,” according to their website.

“Sometimes as leaders, we get so focused on ourselves, or our group, that we forget about the community we serve or are a part of,” Wojnicki said. “This program focuses on bridging that gap. Students will take away great tools, and learn about great resources they can use as they continue on to become leaders with in the Grand Valley State University community and beyond.”

As far as preparing for the seminar, Wojnicki suggests students be ready to learn.

“Students don’t have to do much to get prepared for the seminar, just come excited and ready to learn and share,” she said.

The LLP focuses on a social change model of leadership development, encouraging student leaders to create positive social change in their society.

“Social change leaders are those who work collaboratively to ensure that change occurs,” according to their website. “Some have described social change leaders as being focused on collective action, shared power, and having a passionate commitment to social justice and civic engagement.”

The CLS will encourage student leaders to pursue stronger leadership in their daily lives as well as at school and work.

The first Community Leader Seminar will be held on March 13 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center, room 2266.

To register for the Community Leader Seminar or get more information about the Laker Leadership Program, visit www.gvsu.edu/leadership or e-mail [email protected].
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