To build a pipeline of ethical, well informed, pluralistic, and prepared individuals to serve as civic leaders roles in their communities and across the state and country.

The Emerging Leaders program builds on EMERGE’s national training modules through a series of leadership trainings carried out throughout the State of Florida.  These sessions are conducted with a select group of participants to create leadership capacity in our community’s youth.  After completing the Emerging Leaders program, participants are channeled into internships with their local elected officials and gain the tools needed to participate in the political process through campaigning or working in government.

In the Fall of 2011, EMERGE will be premiering a leadership program consisting of three separate retreats in three different cities throughout the state of Florida, the focus of which will be to build a pipeline of ethical, well informed, diverse, and prepared individuals, ready to serve as civic leaders in their communities and across the state and country.

EMERGE does not aim to speak for the community, but generate the infrastructure for Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Americans to speak for themselves and directly impact public policy. The Emerging Leaders Leadership Program aims to excel participating youth through learning from a skilled, professional group of individuals throughout the State such as local elected officials, policy makers, leadership training professionals and other outstanding civic leaders.

The inaugural class of Emerging Leaders will be comprised of 25-30 promising leaders between the ages of 16-24.  Participants will range from juniors in High school to college and graduate students from around Florida. Applications are available online and subject to a rigorous review process by a distinguished selections committee.  Applicants for the Emerging Leaders Leadership Program need to show both a record of civic leadership and the capacity to grow as civically engaged and capable leaders.

If you would like to nominate someone for this program, or would like to apply for your seat in the first generation of leadership training please go here.

The Emerging Leaders Leadership Program will take place via three leadership retreats throughout the year and monthly webinars.
Retreat I: Fort Lauderdale, Florida:  October 21-23, 2011
Retreat II: Tallahassee, Florida:  January 18-21, 2012
Retreat III: Tampa, Florida:  March 23-25, 2012

The South Florida Retreat will be the first of a year-long program of leadership training. It will begin on October 21, 2011 and end on October 23, 2011.

The purpose of the first retreat is to introduce all participants to one another and establish a sense of team among the participants through teambuilding exercises and learning modules. They will be given an overview of the year ahead of them and introduced to the basics of leadership such as public speaking, mentoring, and communication. Participants will also be given an opportunity to network with some of South Florida’s foremost community leaders.

The “Understanding Power” retreat will take place in center of Florida politics and policy: Tallahassee, Florida. It will be the second of three separate retreats and will take place from January 26, 2012 to January 29, 2012.

During this retreat participants will be introduced to the state legislature and Florida’s governing model. EMERGE strongly feels that our communities promising youth leaders, and future civic leaders, should confidently understand the civic and governing process of the State of Florida. Participants will also partake in an empowering community service project and learn about grassroots organizing from key activists from the state.  By the end of this retreat participants will have created their individual, personalized Leadership Development Plan.

The final retreat of the Emerging Leaders Leadership Program will take place in Tampa, Florida and will be from March 23, 2012 through March 25, 2012.

The purpose of this final retreat will be to familiarize participants with the importance of understanding the diversity of each and every community we live in. Participants will partake in coalition building, media training, and trust building seminars in order to help them foster a comprehensive and effective understanding of leadership development. At the final retreat, participants will also update their Leadership Development Plan and give comprehensive presentations that encompass all aspects of leadership that were introduced to them in the Emerging Leaders Leadership Program.

During the months in between retreats, participants will be required to join monthly webinars that cover certain pre-assigned readings in preparation to upcoming retreats. There will be a total of 7 webinars from October of 2011 to April of 2012.

The fees for the Emerging Leaders Program will be $1,500 per participant for all three retreats.  This includes the cost for lodging, food, transportation, speaker honrariums and administrative costs of the program.  Financial assistance will be available in certain cases.

Applying for Emerging Leaders Leadership Program:

1) All participants are required to participate in at least 8 out of 9 days of the retreats. The one absent day must be approved by the EL Program Director.  

2) Participants must also have 80% participation on Webinars.  

3) Participants must set monthly check-ins with their assigned EL mentors. 

4) All participants must complete an individual leadership development plan. 

5) Group leadership projects are small scale projects that demonstrate a team of participants' ability to create a collaborative project with measurable impact in their community or state.  Ex. Creating a documentary about a local civic leader, structuring a community service project, creating a public service awareness campaign, or helping another community group with an event or project.