Developing a senior leadership program

Abstract

Leadership programs for seniors allow retirees to become vitally involved in the future of their communities. The Creative Senior Leadership Program, a program of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, exemplifies a dynamic leadership program for seniors that began in 1990 and has grown to include ten communities (July 2002). This effective practice from the website of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement describes steps to create leadership programs in other communities.

Issue

Many communities are experiencing both a growing number of retirees and a growing number of community challenges with insufficient existing resources to meet those challenges.

Action

According to the website of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement, the steps for developing a senior leadership program include:

Establish the need for the program in the community
Select a coordinator for the program
Choose an advisory council
Formulate goals and objectives
Identify program content
Determine costs
Seek funding
Select participants
Establish an alumni program

Read more about each of these steps at http://www.unca.edu/ncccr/cslp/program_contents.html

Context

Senior leadership programs are based on the belief that retirees can offer a wealth of experience, leadership, and vitality to their communities while enriching their own lives.
Senior leadership programs facilitate the exploration of creative and productive roles for a new generation of retirement-aged individuals, especially as younger retirees are looking for meaningful retirement activities and opportunities for community involvement.
Senior leadership programs provide seniors with knowledge of community needs, new friendship, and volunteer opportunities.
In North Carolina, the Creative Senior Leadership Program brings together colleges and universities, senior centers, chambers of commerce and existing leadership programs to provide leadership opportunities in the community for seniors.
Survey data from the Leadership Asheville Program in North Carolina (1991,1993) indicate that participants in senior leadership programs are retired, well-educated professionals with a wide range of income levels. Over half (55 percent) are men and the rest (45 percent) are women.