Leadership Montgomery County Hosts Serving Our Community Session

Leadership Montgomery County (LMC) recently hosted its Serving Our Community Session for the Class of 2017, sponsored by Strike, LLC.

The session, held at The Ark Church in Conroe and introduced to the LMC program in 2015, is designed to allow class members to learn about needs in the community, the organizations filling those needs, and how they can help as leaders in the community.

Session director and LMC board vice chairman Phillip Moore of The Ark Church welcomed the class to the session and gave an overview of the day’s events before kicking off the day with the class leadership series facilitated by Chad Patterson and LMC alumni.

After the leadership series, Sally Copley of the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County spoke on the history of Montgomery County and its nonprofits. The class spent the rest of the morning participating in a poverty simulation facilitated by Paula Odom of Entergy Texas. More than 20 LMC graduates and supporters participated in the simulation with the class.

“Having our class participate in a poverty simulation allows them to experience first hand what many in our community unfortunately face as reality everyday,” said session director and LMC Vice Chairman Phillip Moore.  “We believe that by focusing on Serving Our Community, we are challenging the class to use the experiences gained in LMC to be a vital part of the solutions for making Montgomery County better.”

After lunch, Ky Bishop of Strike, LLC spoke to the class about Strike’s community advocacy initiative called Campaign for Change. United Way of Greater Houston CEO Anna Babin then spoke to the class about the United Way and how they are addressing needs in the community.

The class then heard from Nancy Heintz of Montgomery County Homeless Coalition, Chad Patterson of Crisis Assistance Center, and Darlene Underwood of the Montgomery County Food Bank. Each presenter spoke about their organization and how their organizations work together to benefit the community.

Missy Herndon, president and CEO of Interfaith of The Woodlands, spoke to the class on the many ways Interfaith is filling needs in the area with their programs and services, child development center, and workforce solutions.

A faith-based panel that included Luke Redus of Compassion United, LaToya Carter of Family Promise of Montgomery County, and Chris Follet of Innerfaith Disciple House followed, before class members attended a nonprofit volunteer/board fair.

The nonprofit volunteer/board fair featured more than 30 nonprofits from throughout Montgomery County. Class members were given the opportunity to speak to each nonprofit representative and explore how they could become more involved in the community.

“This session is a vital part of the class experience,” said LMC Executive Director Sarah Rhea. “They spend the year learning about the inner workings of the county and growing as leaders. It’s a time for them to stop and assess what’s next for them and find out how they can serve our community with the knowledge and skills they’ve gained from throughout the program.”

Leadership Montgomery County (LMC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, dedicated to cultivating the future leaders of Montgomery County. The mission of LMC is to prepare emerging and existing leaders to understand local issues, grow their leadership skills and connect with others to better serve Montgomery County.

The Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce, The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Magnolia Parkway Chamber of Commerce, the Greater East Montgomery County Chamber, and the Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber are all partner Chambers in the LMC program. Participants are chosen by application process in June of each year.

For more information about Leadership Montgomery County, please visit LMCTX.org.

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