Sponsored by the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the program is dedicated to the development of leaders who will serve their communities today and in the future.

Nonprofits serving Saratoga County are encouraged to submit a project proposal detailing their organization’s needs.

The opportunities are infinite! Applicants are advised to think big and be creative in their proposals.

In past years, Leadership Saratoga groups have successfully completed projects such as marketing assessments, community engagement outreach, event planning, educational programming, awareness campaigns and website redesigns.

Proposals are reviewed by a subcommittee of the Leadership Saratoga Advisory Board, which selects up to four projects for groups within the incoming class to complete as part of the months-long program.

The Leadership Saratoga participants are eager to help in any way they can. These volunteer projects provide hands-on experience using some of the skills they learn in the program, while also giving them an opportunity to lend their knowledge and expertise to a local impact sector organization.

Leadership Saratoga alum Jennifer Allen, executive director of The Friends of the Saratoga Springs Public Library, urges fellow area nonprofit leaders to submit project ideas to the program, emphasizing that it is a valuable resource.

Allen experienced what it’s like to work on a Leadership Saratoga project as a member of the Class of 2016. Since then, she has guided multiple organizations through the application process, and seen the tremendous benefit they can gain from being selected as a one of the program’s projects.  

Most recently, a Leadership Saratoga group assisted The Friends of the Saratoga Springs Public Library with development, structure and marketing. By designing the organization’s project proposal to be somewhat open-ended, the Leadership Saratoga group was able to identify specific needs and how they could help based on their expertise.

Along with writing a flexible proposal, Allen’s advice to organizations with selected projects is to communicate with their groups frequently, which may result in the project ultimately taking a new and unexpected direction.  

An extra perk of the program for selected organizations is being highlighted at the Leadership Saratoga Alumni Breakfast, Allen said, noting that this annual event is attended by the greatest leaders in the area.

Allen believes that working with Leadership Saratoga is an incredible opportunity for any area nonprofit. “To be able to get an ‘in’ with Leadership Saratoga is a huge benefit for the organization,” she said. “No matter how big or how small a nonprofit organization is, it really is an opportunity that they shouldn’t pass up to be able to work with a Leadership team and to be connected to the Leadership Saratoga program.”

Project proposal applications should be submitted to Leadership Saratoga by Sept. 8.

Organizations will be notified by the end of September about selections.

A listing of projects completed in years past can be found on the Leadership Saratoga website at www.leadershipsaratoga.org/explore-program/previous-projects.

The 2023-2024 Leadership Saratoga program will run from September 2023 to May 2024.