The application deadline for Leadership Worcester’s Class of 2027 is set to close Monday, after which the civic-and-business training program will welcome its 300th participant.
“We are trying to build a strong connected leadership network throughout Worcester,” said Karen Pelletier, executive vice president at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, which operates the Leadership Worcester program. “It is a very community-driven program.”
When the current Class of 2026 graduates in June, Leadership Worcester will have 290 alumni since it started 11 years ago. The incoming Class of 2027 has 28 available slots, putting the program over the 300 milestone once those applicants are accepted. Visit the Leadership Worcester website to apply by the end-of-day Monday deadline.
Leadership Worcester spun out of listening sessions Timothy Murray had in the community after he became chamber president and CEO in 2013. The concern at the time was that Worcester needed to build out a bench of capable business and civic professionals to eventually take over leadership in the city, Pelletier said.
“All the people who participate in the program want to be involved in the city already,” she said.
The nine-month program includes one all-day session per month covering topics important to city leadership: education, safety, government, economic development, arts and culture, public health, economic development, urban sustainability, and food insecurity. Tuition is $3,200, and participants’ employers will often cover the cost. Financial aid is available, and accepted applicants are never turned away over cost concerns, Pelletier said.
About 70 people apply for the program annually. In selecting the 28 participants, the program strives to include those who bring a unique perspective, striving to have a diversity of industries, ages, gender, race, ethnicity, single and married people, those born in the region, and those who moved into Greater Worcester.
“We are purposefully trying to build out a network across sectors,” Pelletier said.
Notable program alumni include Ché Anderson, assistant vice chancellor for city and community relations at UMass Chan Medical School; Amie Shei, president and CEO of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts; Sean Brennan, marketing and business development director at LPA|Architects; Mari Gonzalez, executive director of the El Buen Samaritano Food Program; and Jackson Restrepo, business partner at Woo City Property Management and Restrepo Properties.
“My current role is all about building relationships to help continue moving Worcester forward, and Leadership Worcester not only strengthened my knowledge of the City’s many moving parts but also helped me establish new relationships across multiple sectors,” Anderson said in a statement provided to WBJ. “These relationships have helped with new collaborations and initiatives in our community.”
Pelletier said one of her proudest moments as the program leader came at the Family Childcare Success Project incubator launch in April. Four Leadership Worcester alumni, including Shei, played a key role in starting the hub, which is the first of its kind in Central Massachusetts. The incubator aims to provide resources and training for those interested in launching their own child care businesses while providing on-site care for area families, with a capacity of 20 children.
“Worcester is already positioned really well, and now we are doing a better job of bringing up those future leaders,” Pelletier said.
Brad Kane is editor of the Worcester Business Journal.
