Leadership Hendricks County Expands Programs to Inspire Community Growth & Connection
Leadership Hendricks County (LHC) has been giving county residents and employees the leadership tools they need to grow professionally, serve their communities and take on effective leadership roles since 1993.
They’re still going strong and have recently expanded offerings for those interested in planting roots in Hendricks County.
“We kicked off a rejuvenation to the programs in January,” says Jana Morrison, LHC Executive Director. “Our LHC emblem has four corners to it: Ignite, Ember, Spark and Flame. So, we have our community leaders program (Ignite), our youth leadership program (Spark), recognizing our alumni and the awesome things they are doing (Flame), and our leadership development program (Ember).”
The Ignite Community Leaders Program is gearing up for a new cohort. Applications opened Sept. 1 and will close Nov. 1.
The program shares the inner workings of the county with residents and employees who can use the information to make connections, impact their communities and explore local opportunities.
“Our goal is to help people not assume what is happening in our community but to really know,” Morrison says. “We often hear participants say, ‘I had no idea we had a work release program in our county,’ or many don’t know we have a phenomenal drug court here.”
Curriculum for the 12 program days throughout the year includes an opening retreat, closing retreat, team capstone project day and nine days out in the community. Participants learn about the Hendricks County judicial system, education, county government, infrastructure and resources, business and industry, economic development, agriculture, diverse perspectives and health and human services.
“We have a group that meets after every program to make sure we’re still meeting relevant topics,” Morrison adds. “For example, we used to have all of our superintendents join us for the education day, but we also wanted to hear from the school board, so we’ve changed the panel up a little bit to hear different perspectives. On our judicial system day, all of our Hendricks County judges come to lunch with us, and we’re able to ask questions and learn a little more about that area of our county.”
The class of 28 to 30 will participate in team-building days and, after learning more about the challenges and needs in the county, will break off into smaller groups to create a capstone project to truly grab hold of the leadership skills needed.
“We aren’t looking for the perfect project,” Morrison says. “Sometimes it’s a learning experience. One group wanted to have more trails in Hendricks County. They did the research and came back and said a one-mile trail is going to cost around $1M. So now they’re looking at how to apply for grants, etc.”
The 2025 class worked on projects such as education and promotion of the Aware Program — a sticker used to alert law enforcement of a person with a disability. Another group created a scavenger hunt for families to learn more about places in the county that aren’t well known.
Successful projects over the years have included the Hendricks County Food Pantry Coalition and the VoteHC website, which shares voting and election information for county residents. Ember Leadership Academy is the newest program at LHC and aims to strengthen those in the workforce through one meeting per month for five months.
“We tried to do some one-off events with this, and I think many were not as invested or it was easier to forget about registering,” Morrison says. “We created this program because we believe in not only getting people engaged in the community but having a good culture in your working environment.”
Participants learn more about communication, emotional intelligence, decision-making, vision and strategic thinking, and adaptability and resilience.
“The first program included a phenomenal panel for decision-making,” Morrison adds. “They talked about decisions made in the workforce and often not doing what you want to do but what is best for the company overall. Dr. Michelle Fenoughty, president and CEO of Hendricks Regional Health, came in to talk about adaptability and resilience during the pandemic. I think overall, it was very successful.”
Applications for the Ember program open Feb. 1 and close April 1. They accept approximately 30 participants.
Over the years, they’ve extended their programming to youth and alumni, too. The Spark Youth Leadership program includes youth entering grade 10 from across the county to learn more about supporting others, self-management, awareness, excellence and how to motivate others.
They also visit Hendricks County industries and services, meet and network with adult leaders, and learn more about volunteer opportunities in order to make an impact in their community.
Finally, Flame recognizes all the interesting and inspiring things the LHC alumni are doing.
“We have more than 700 alumni after 33 years of the program,” Morrison says. “It’s always interesting to see what people are doing and how they have progressed. We want to know where they are now. It’s great to be able to inspire the passion we see at LHC and that ripple effect, as participants learn about our county and then pass it on to friends, co-workers and neighbors. It makes us a stronger community.”
