Leadership Arlington Highlights

1998

• In 1998, Leadership Arlington was launched by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce as an
  independent nonprofit, 501(c)3, whose mission is to enlighten, inspire and connect
  leaders to strengthen the Arlington community. Leadership Arlington’s vision is
  a prepared, inspired and inclusive Arlington leadership who together embrace responsibility for the
  common good.

1999

• In May 1999, the 32-member inaugural class of Leadership Arlington graduated.
  

2000

• This was the first year there was a membership and class.
  This bi-partisan organization re-wrote their by-laws to reflect the
  organization's development.

2001

• On February 7, 2001 Leadership Arlington held its first Homecoming Day of continuous learning and 65 percent of the membership attended. The day was centered on visioning in Arlington.

• The Speaker Series began its first year. This was a
  forum for the community to discuss pressing issues and developing topics.

2002

• Leadership Arlington's opening retreat on September 13^th followed the unprecedented event in the history of the nation. The class of 2001 and the membership truly understand how critical it was to our country to have great leadership.

• The Leadership Arlington website launched.
  

2003

• 2003 marks the five-year anniversary of Leadership Arlington.

• Leadership Arlington launched the Youth Program.
  The youth program is designed to develop leadership skills and awareness of the need for community service, civic participation, and philanthropy in high school students in the 11th or 12th grades.

2004

• Leadership Arlington completed the first year of the youth program. 16 Arlington county high school students developed their leadership skills and focused on philanthropy and citizenship.

• Leadership Arlington completed their goal of raising $60,000 to create an endowment.

2005

• Leadership Arlington worked diligently to create a strategic plan that focused on increasing the value of membership. More than half of Leadership Arlington
  members actively volunteer within Leadership Arlington, helping on various
  committees.

• Leadership Arlington added class reunions for each class to reconnect annually.

2006

• Leadership Arlington added a new dimension to the program year – Ethics and
  Leadership. With the sponsorship of Verizon, we incorporated ethics as an overlay to each of the program days. The year kicked off with Building Ethics in our Community and concluded withYour Ethical Path of
  Leadership – It’s Your Turn.

• Leadership Arlington hosted the first annual Monte Carlo Night at Reagan National Airport. The event rose funding for the Youth Program.

2007

• Leadership Arlington received the prestigious ABBIE Award for small business of the year, service division, which comes from Arlington’s business community and is
  presented by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and Arlington County’s Economic Development Commission.

2008

• For our 10th anniversary, we introduced ON BOARD! which helps train volunteer board members in our community to maximize their effectiveness.
  

2009

• Leadership Arlington created a Community Mind Trust in order to gather human capital in the Arlington community to help local organizations from all sectors--public, private and non-profit--weather the storm of challenging economic times.