Celebrating 100 Years of Arizona Statehood
Welcome to the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership
As Arizona looks toward its second 100 years of statehood, its challenges are increasingly complex. Arizona must ensure its future leaders have the commitment, knowledge, and skills to work together to carry out creative, long-term solutions to pressing problems.
Creation of the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership
In 2009, the Center for the Future of Arizona commissioned a Gallup poll to obtain Arizonans’ perspectives on issues, with an objective of creating a residents’ agenda for moving Arizona forward.
The results published in The Arizona We Want reflect the importance of strong leadership to Arizona’s residents and its future. Poll respondents strongly agreed that:
“Arizona needs fully prepared leadership and governance structures appropriate to the 21st century.”
Recognizing the role of civic leadership in Arizona’s future, the Flinn Foundation asked research consultant Battelle to inventory Arizona’s civic-leadership assets. Battelle found that, while quality leadership-training organizations existed at the local and regional level, no entity existed to address civic leadership statewide.
To fill the gap, the Flinn Foundation and the Thomas R. Brown Foundations formed a partnership to create the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership. Administered by the Flinn Foundation, the Center works to strengthen civic leadership in Arizona and foster collaboration among all types of organizations involved in civic leadership and civic engagement.
Core components of the Center
The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership has three major components:
- The Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy develops future state leaders through a structured 12-seminar program, connections with established leaders, and individual plans for involvement in statewide issues and institutions. Two sessions per year are scheduled for competitively selected groups of Fellows.
- The Arizona Civic Leadership Collaborative helps local and regional programs to develop and work together on a statewide agenda to expand and enhance civic leadership at all levels.
- An ongoing communication campaign concentrates on increasing awareness of civic engagement, involvement, and leadership throughout the state.
The Center may include more programs as needs, opportunities, and potential partners are identified.
Directory of Regional and Local Leadership Programs
One project of the Arizona Civic Leadership Collaborative is a directory of local and regional nonpartisan civic-leadership training programs across Arizona–some 50 in all. This first-ever directory will be updated and expanded periodically as new organizations and initiatives emerge.
The organizations in the directory are briefly profiled on the Arizona Civic Leadership Map. You may also:
- Download map data as an Excel file;
- View organization profiles in list form, sorted by name, city, or category;
- Submit edits to individual entries, or suggest additions to the directory that we may have missed.
