A Year In Review

by LGS Executive Director Pam Brunet

As a member of the LGS Class of 1998, I am still in awe of Leadership Greater Syracuse. Every year, I more deeply understand and appreciate the value of authentic relationships and what it means for individuals and our community.

The Class of 2022 of our flagship program wrapped up their year at Clear Path for Veterans where they reflected on the previous 12 months, heard from a panel of LGS grads about “what’s next,” and listened to a brief presentation from LGS founder Chuckie Holstein. Like all classes that came before them, it was a bittersweet day. The feedback on their year-long experience with LGS is powerful. They said that because of LGS, their new connections have enhanced their ability to interact with people who are different from them and have intensified their personal responsibility to make CNY better. They agreed that they acquired full appreciation for the many successes within our community and an understanding of the numerous challenges it faces. You can see the list of 2022 graduates here.

As we let them fly out of “Robin’s nest,” we welcome the LGS Class of 2023 – our 33^rd class. Thanks to our graduates who readily share their LGS experiences with colleagues, friends, and family, we had the highest number of applications in our history! This included dozens of new-to-us organizations. This gift allowed us to create a very diverse class, including gender, age, race, profession, employer type, lifelong residents, and newcomers, those new to service and those who are very experienced. The diversity is astounding. I told them at their orientation that they are an unopened gift to each other and our community. You can see the Class of 2023 list here.