Valley Leadership

Valley Leadership’s legacy program, the Leadership Institute is designed to broaden and develop the skills and networking of existing and emerging leaders, challenge critical thinking, expose leaders to new perspectives, offer opportunities to make an impact in the community, and inspire them to lead and serve in new ways.

Forty-nine members of Class 34 completed the nine-month leadership development program, which requires attendance at nine issue-focused program days in addition to the significant group work and other program obligations. New for Class 34, the program also included an enhanced leadership skills curriculum delivered by instructors from Thunderbird School of Global Management.  

Valley Leadership’s mission is “to enhance the abilities of individuals to serve and strengthen our communities.” The group projects required of each Leadership Institute class are just one example of the ways that Valley Leadership participants and alumni make significant and lasting impact on local communities. Following Valley Leadership tradition, group projects are judged and scored by a panel of Valley Leadership alumni and key community partners, based on criteria such as understanding an issue of regional importance; creating and completing a usable project; practicing and modeling civil discourse skills throughout; connecting with both classmates and community leaders; and making a positive impact on the community.  

The winning project for Class 34 created a mobile application, Simply Sayin’, in partnership with Phoenix Children’s Hospital Child Life Department. The application is designed to empower hospital staff, child life specialists, and families by explaining medical terms, procedures, and health events in age-appropriate ways in order to help reduce anxiety, increase confidence, and improve patient outcomes. The group, led by project leader Brian Bogert, raised over $12,000 to support the creation of this application.  

“As a former patient of Phoenix Children’s Hospital [and founder of PALs, Patient and family Alumni Leadership for Phoenix Children’s Hospital], I know firsthand how scary and overwhelming a serious injury or illness, and all that comes with it, can be for children and their families,” Bogert said. “Valley Leadership was the vehicle that allowed us to come together as a group to create this app, and hopefully, make a difference for kids in the Valley and all over the world as they navigate treatment and recovery.” 

The six other projects from Class 34 were:

Academic Bowl – Designed and implemented an annual academic bowl focused on increasing AIMS scores for fourth- through sixth-graders.  The academic bowl engaged college students as mentors and garnered strong community support, including more than $1,400 in financial and in-kind support to cover the costs associated with hosting the academic bowl.

FitPHX Initiative – Partnered with the City of Phoenix and Olympic gold-medalist Misty Hyman (Valley Leadership Class 32) to launch the FitPHX Initiative, a tri-city wide movement to promote healthy living and better coordinate the many recreational and fitness options in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area.

Foster Care Transitional Mentorship Program – In partnership with Arizona’s Children Association, developed a transitional mentorship program for youth aging out of Arizona’s foster care system. The ACA successfully secured State funding to launch the program in Fall 2013.

One Fun Day – Developed a new, sustainable program for New Song Center, a division of Hospice of the Valley. One Fun Day helps grieving children after the death of a loved one by designing, planning, and implementing unique, local “experiences” tailored to the interests, passions, or special celebration request for each recipient. The group raised nearly $40,000 in financial and in-kind support to help this project deliver one experience a month for the next three years.

PopUpPHX – Conceptualized and implemented a sustainable model of “pop-up” arts and cultural performances and experiences in public and unexpected places in an effort to bring arts and culture to the general public.

SB1208 (Pilot; Foster Care Tuition Waiver) – Introduced non-partisan legislation that addresses the transition from foster care to adulthood and provides a path to educational attainment by offering former foster care youth a full tuition and mandatory fee waiver at Arizona public universities and community colleges.