Leadership Brown County

05/19/2026

Last week, the 2026 Leadership Cohort met for the last time. Our time together over the last 5 months has been fruitful, enlightening, intense, thought provoking, and joyous. This group of leaders grew in so many ways both personally and professionally.

Our board of directors starts each cohort program by prefacing that they are on a journey of discovery too, and they do not know everything about leadership. What keeps our board coming back is the opportunity to grow and learn from the cohort as well.

This was certainly a year of growth. A year of changing some programing, adapting, condensing, being flexible, and remaining open to the possibilities of feedback and success for both cohort members and board members.

We spent our last day in togetherness, and community. We started our day off at the Convention and Visitor's Bureau discussing business and tourism and what that looks like for Brown County.

The afternoon we spent celebrating, eating a meal together, discussing key take aways of the last 5 months, and how we can all step into our community as better citizens and leaders.

We left each other a little sad that this exact formation of people and community is ending, but excited for the new relationships we have made, and the possibilities to build community with the networking and skills we have acquired over the last 5 months.

If you would like to join next year’s cohort, fill out the registration form below:
https://forms.gle/xwKADZQe2ebR2RwF6

04/29/2026

Recently, our cohort had their organization impact day. We started the day off with Brown County Connect hosted by Simply Fitness and Angela Jackson Photography. It was a great morning of connection and networking.

Then we headed off to the Brown County Public Library, and learned about all the services and programming our library has to offer. Alice Susemichel, from the Brown County Community Foundation, shared with us, and Jim Snyder from Habitat for Humanity.

In the afternoon, we ventured just west of Beanblossom, to Hope for Hearts farm to learn about the services and work they do with therapy horses. Our cohort even got to do some team building with the horses.

It was a great day, and our cohort left educated, fulfilled, and full of hope of what our beautiful community has to offer.

If you would like to join next year’s cohort, fill out the registration form below:

https://forms.gle/xwKADZQe2ebR2RwF6

03/25/2026

We asked them to bring the heat, and they delivered! 🔥🔥

Yesterday, our cohort spent the first half of the day at the Law Enforcement Center with Sheriff Brad Stogsdill and Chief Deputy Brian Shrader and their amazing team learning about the inner workings of law enforcement in Brown County. We started with a jail tour, discussion on mental health, crime trends, and how our sheriff’s department sets the standard for rehabilitation for inmates to be successful for their return to the regular population. Our cohort listened to an inmate impact statement, ate an inmate lunch, and then headed outside to learn about techniques used in pulling over vehicles. They learned about car safety, police safety and techniques to keep the interactions safe. Our cohort watched Officer Gibson’s K-9 Officer Samson, work as well.

We ended our day at Jackson Township Fire Department with Fire Chief, Glenn Elmore, his Communications Officer, Thomi Elmore, and team member Billy Knotts.

We walked through the history of volunteer fire departments, volunteerism and leadership, general fire safety, how to properly use a fire extinguisher, to walking the property, touring the fire trucks and equipment, and discussing many fire topics. Our cohort even got to put out some fires themselves and walk through a mock house fire training to see what it is truly like to be in a house fire and how communication and teamwork is key for firefighters to remain safe and get the job done and come out alive. (Don’t worry, it was all theatrics and not a real fire! Very realistic!)

What an incredible day for our cohort and our board of directors. We all continue to learn something new, and we are grateful for our community partners who share their passion and give 100% to make our leadership program impactful.

If you would like more information or would like to register for next year’s cohort, our link for 2027 is LIVE NOW!

Click Here⬇️

https://forms.gle/xwKADZQe2ebR2RwF6

02/25/2026

Last Tuesday, our cohort met for a jam packed Education Impact Day where we partner with the Brown County School Corporation to share what is happening in our community with education from K-12, to adult offerings at the CRC. Superintendent Emily Callahan, kicked off our day discussing the many topics including the TED-Ed program entering into it's third year, to the initiatives to help students discover what they want to do when they graduate. Our cohort was led through some activities that students complete like the RIASEC code.

The cohort toured the CRC, Eagle Manufacturing, BC Middle School, BC High School, and Helmsburg Elementary.

Thank you so much to BCSC's staff for hosting us and educating us on all the neat happenings with the young minds in Brown County.

02/23/2026

We got a little behind in posting, but we still wanted to share that on January 20th we had our 2nd cohort meeting for Arts and Entertainment Impact Day. We kicked the morning off with board member, John Sadtler, leading the cohort through a “Finding Your Personal Strengths” workshop. Our day included getting creative with textile arts with board member Kurt Eagleman leading us through some art projects and work at his studio, Second Story Studio.

We then toured the Brown County Art Guild and Brown County Playhouse.
In the afternoon we met at the Brown County Music Center where we met for a tour and discussion. They also graciously hosted us for our Theater workshop led by our board member and theater artist, Andrea Swift-Hanlon.

12/16/2025

Ready to challenge yourself, grow your leadership skills, and truly get to know Brown County?

💥Leadership Brown County is now accepting applications for our 2026 Cohort!

This immersive program is designed to push you outside your comfort zone, connect you with local leaders, and give you a deeper understanding of the people, organizations, and issues that shape our community. You’ll gain practical leadership skills, fresh perspective, and the motivation to make a real impact.
✨ Learn about Brown County
✨ Build confidence & leadership skills
✨ Get inspired, challenged, and motivated
✨ Connect with fellow emerging and established leaders

If you’re ready to invest in yourself and your community, this is your year.

👉 Apply now and take the first step toward becoming a stronger leader in 2026! More info about the class in the link ⬇️.

https://forms.gle/nfBW6xdP7xTBqJZa6

Deadline to Register: January 5th, 2026
Classes Begin: January 13th, 2026

12/01/2025

We have seen the views on our page recently, and you are probably wondering where our updates are on our current cohort.

One of the biggest lessons in leadership that we can learn is that sometimes it is okay to pivot, and change things up if that means it will support our community partners and our cohort in a more fulfilling way.

We took a "leap" and we postponed our cohort until the new year.
We heard your feedback, we assessed our own schedules and those of our community partners, and we realized that Autumn in Brown County is very busy.

We want our cohort to feel energized and excited to be a part of Leadership Brown County, and so with that, we made a decision to revamp the schedule to start this January while continuing to provide all the leadership programming to which we uphold.

We would love for you to join our cohort in the new year!
✨Start 2026 off with a bang!✨
💥 New Year-New Opportunities!

➡️Click the link to register: https://forms.gle/nfBW6xdP7xTBqJZa6

10/09/2025

We were very fortunate to sit down with Chris Schneider from the In Brown County Podcast, along with Sheriff, Brad Stogsdill and chat about Citizen’s Academy. Thank you for interviewing us Chris.

Be sure to give In Brown County a like and a follow.

For the full podcast see the link in the comments! ⬇️

09/10/2025

We are so incredibly proud of this program and the collaboration we have with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department.

We are looking forward to planning the next Citizen’s Academy and more information about our regular 8 month cohort will be coming out soon!

Stay tuned!

For the first time, the Brown County Sheriff’s Department and Leadership Brown County partnered to allow community members to meet the department’s staff “behind the scenes” in the Citizens Academy beta program. The idea behind the program is to bridge the gap to bring awareness between what...

08/22/2025

🚔Night 3 of Citizen’s Academy was spent learning about all the positions it takes on the field and in the office to keep our community safe. From Case Management, Administrative work, Animal Control, to our officers in the field, it is a team effort.

We also got to meet our K-9 officers Sampson and Knox and watch them work. They may look like fluffy cuddle bugs, but they are truly amped muscle when it comes to searches. Nothing gets past their wet noses. 😎

Things got more intense last night as officers began to tell their stories on some really difficult calls and walking our citizen cadets through choices and training that led to apprehensions and even some things that are difficult for them to shake. They are human too, and want what’s best for the community, but there is a price to pay for them too.

Trauma on all sides is very real, and keeping your mental health in check and having support is very important.

It was another great night of learning!