GRO Buffalo Leadership Program
Often, rural community leaders wear several hats. For example, Joy Beamer, a GRO leader in Buffalo, MO, is a senior staff member at the local newspaper Buffalo Reflex. Joy is also the president of Dallas County’s Community Foundation. In Hermann, MO, GRO Leader Ron Kraettli is a retired banker and serves as vice president of the Community Foundation of the Hermann Area Board of Directors. In addition, he is a member of the CFO’s Legacy Society. Often, the same group of individuals in communities serve a variety of leadership roles and, as a result, experience burnout.
How do we avoid burnout? How do we start a project and not let it die when a community member decides they need to take off one of their hats?
In Buffalo, they are taking sustainable leadership in the community to another level. Buffalo’s Leadership Program was uniquely designed to address the needs of their small rural community. This program works with a multigenerational group of citizens, which includes 5 high school students, 5 adults, and 5 senior citizens in each class. This inclusive experience allows classmates to share and learn from each other’s unique perspectives. In addition, it gives them an immersive experience to learn about their community, the city hall, the schools, non-profits, and the local and state governments.
Graduates from the program are actively recruited to serve in leadership positions in the community. For example, the alumni now serve as school board members, CFO Board members, and the Dallas County Economic Group members.
GRO helped the leaders in Buffalo with a system and a way to start this project to create sustainable leaders.