As the 2016 Business Academy Project Manager, I would like to thank you and the JCI UK Foundation for your kind support to this pilot project. I hope the following is suitable for the testimonial you asked for.

I am delighted to say the Academy was a massive success with delegates reporting increased confidence, knowledge and skills in their business acumen as a direct result of what they had learned on the Academy. We are pleased to hear already a few of them have made changes to their approach or are developing business plans. We have set up a facebook group for graduates to help provide a vehicle for them to share ideas.

The Academy also gave us a great opportunity to develop our relationships and partnerships with key business leaders and organisations within the City including Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Business Sheffield in particular.

Please see link to our September magazine that includes a write up about the Academy – see page 18 and 19.

Mark Smith 
JCI Sheffield

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JCI UK Leadership Excellence in Action Programme – LEAP by Dan Senter

The Leadership Excellence in Action Programme (LEAP) started out as a concept I had at the end of 2011 following my year as Personal Development Director for JCI Sheffield.

Objective:

“To equip young people with the skills they need to provide development opportunities to create positive change”

In that the first year we would deliver a pilot programme to develop the training content, the framework, gain tangible feedback from those attending and establish the team to continue the programme into the following year.

The national board were supportive of the vision and I established a project team of senators and members from across the UK. A series of meetings and workshops were run to deliver the course content, marketing materials and arrangements for the pilot programme.  We received funding from JCI UK Foundation which paved the way for us to run the programme and four years later LEAP is firmly in the annual calendar.

LEAP is set for its fifth year in 2016.  It will continue to have training running from Friday through to Sunday. Over the years we’ve created opportunities for over 80 delegates graduating the programme and other members joining in and developing skills training and project managing the event. I can safely say everyone who has been involved in LEAP always leave feeling fully inspired to take action!!

It great to see that many of the graduates of LEAP have now gone on to take on role on their local council teams and the project team.

James Mitchell of JCI Cambridge used the training as a springboard to taking on the 2013 President role!

“LEAP was the best training course I attended in 2012, the quality of the training provided was excellent and the activities I was involved in were well thought out. Its amazing value for money and highly recommend this course to anyone keen to develop in JCI and as a Leader.”

The weekend offers delegates to learn about there personal leadership styles and how to run an effective organisation along with leading and motivating a team.

“Knowing how to properly focus on a common goal” was one of the key learning for Katie Jackson from JCI Sheffield who went on to become Deputy Marketing Director for JCI UK and is the 2016 JCI UK Community Director