Last year I participated in the ann arbor area chamber of commerce Leadership Ann Arbor program.  Part of the Leadership mission statement is to provide "a foundation for the development of a sustainable, vital community whose vision is based upon an informed and committed business community."  The program begins with an orientation and then an overnight retreat.  After that, one Wednesday a month, for the next 8 months the group learns about a different sector of the community including education, health care, local government, community services and others.  It's a very diverse group of people who participate each year. 

Last year I missed the May day, Quality of Life which focuses on arts, sports and other leisure opportunities in the area.  Lindsay, the fabulous director of the program, said that I could come back this year and make it up.  So 2 weeks ago, I tagged along with this year's class.  We started out at Gallup Park for a tour with some of the natural area preservation employees.  I'm ashamed to admit that I've never even been in the part of the park that we walked through.  They're doing a lot of work to restore some of the natural vegetation and get rid of the invasive species that have taken over many of the spaces that we think of as "natural".  Then we headed over to Hill Auditorium for a little tour that included a peak into the organ room.  We also had someone from The Ark, the A2 Summer Festival, and UMS speak to us about their programs that bring some of the best artists to the Ann Arbor area.  Then we headed over to WEMU, the public radio station on Eastern Michigan University's campus.  We are fortunate to have two great public radio stations in the A2 area but WEMU is known for jazz and a focus on local news and information. 

Next we headed to lunch at Pizza House followed by a trip to the Michigan Theater.  At the Michigan Theater we heard some of the background of the theater and movies from Russ Collins, the CEO and exec director.   He and Ron Olson, the chief of the parks & rec division of the SoM Dept. of Natural Resources, were our hosts or tour guides for the day.  We also heard from Amy Milligan from the Neutral Zone about the great work they do providing opportunities for artistic expression and community leadership for the youth in our community.  Amy is actually a fellow alum of the 2008 Leadership class.  Next we headed over to the UofM athletic campus for a tour of the football practice facilities.  We were all pleasantly surprised when Coach Rich Rodriguez came to speak to us.  Finally, we headed over to the Ann Arbor Art Center where we got to paint a mug. 

All in all it was a great day.  I highly recommend the program.  I have lived in Ann Arbor for most of my life but I learned so much about the sectors of the community that I don't come into contact with very much.  And it really helped me expand my network.  I was definitely aware of that when I attended this year's Quality of Life day and ran into a number of people that I know because of Leadership connections.  My participation in Leadership was also the catalyst for me to find ways to get more involved in the community through volunteer opportunities and a city advisory board.  If you can't commit the amount of time to do Leadership, there are other opportunities to get a little of the same experience. Russ Collins hosts the Morning Edition events through the chamber and the chamber has even done a couple of events that are formatted like a mini Leadership Economic Development day.  We're really blessed to have a number of organizations that improve our quality of life and make Ann Arbor a wonderful place to live.