Leadership Charleston seeks to partner with 10 metro Charleston nonprofit organizations that are members of the Chamber of Commerce. Each selected organization will benefit from a project that a team of the Leadership Charleston Class of 2011 will be working on throughout the 10-month program year. This highly competitive class consists of 50 members.
                                                          
The Community Leadership Projects serve an important role in the Leadership Charleston curriculum and are designed to accomplish the following objectives:
• Provide value-added support and consultation to a local nonprofit
• Provide a civic engagement opportunity for class members to collectively learn about and address critical community needs
• Provide an opportunity for class members to develop meaningful relationships with each other through teamwork and to gain experience leading in a team setting
• Provide an opportunity for class members to learn about how nonprofit organizations address community needs
                                                                                                              
The following are examples of the type of projects we will consider. However, you are not limited to the examples listed.
• Developing and facilitating a mentorship program
• Planning and conducting an activity or event for a group of people that your organization serves
• Participating in a process to help identify creative approaches to challenges facing your organization
• Participating in a process to evaluate and facilitate collaborative partnerships with other nonprofits, businesses or government programs.
• Developing a volunteer utilization plan
• Developing the concept and template for a signature event
                                                                                                         
An example of a very successful project from last year’s class was submitted by the American Red Cross Carolina Lowcountry Chapter. The leadership project team worked with the American Red Cross Carolina Lowcountry Chapter on their Ready When the Time Comes program. Working with the Red Cross, the team helped to streamline the training program, shortening the training module from five hours to one hour. As a result, the Red Cross has been able to secure more participation from area employers and train more volunteers to participate in the program. The team also became certified trainers, volunteered for the Haiti repatriation operation at Charleston AFB, and suggested targets for sponsorship of the program. Ultimately, the ARC Carolina Lowcountry Chapter doubled its corporate partners, volunteers trained, and overall sponsorship dollars for the Ready When the Time Comes program.