About

The Mission of ILA

The mission of the Indiana Leadership Association is to facilitate best practices of leadership in and for the good of Indiana communities and Indiana people.

A Short History of ILA

In the mid-1980’s, when the Community Leadership Program movement was young, the Indiana Leadership Association was founded by officers and volunteers of Community Leadership Programs from around Indiana, this mission was carried out exclusively by promoting networking among Indiana’s diverse and local Community Leadership Programs. In 1991, the organization was formally established as a 501 (c) 3 and began to offer conferences and other services to members on a regular basis.

In the mid-1990s, many ILA organizational members participated in the Indiana Leadership Initiative, a multi-year, Lilly Endowment-funded, pilot research/educational/ training program that aimed to improve the effectiveness of leadership training in communities by encouraging the inclusion of the most up-to-date “collaborative” leadership skills and processes systematically into the curriculum of Community Leadership Programs. Embracing this change began to change the mindset by which a large number of the programs operated.

Over time ILA recognized that the audience for training in such skills was far wider than its traditional “program” audience and increased outreach to include any organizations and individuals recognizing the importance of effective collaborative leadership in carrying out their work. Special affinity developed for “community-building” and the leadership attitudes and practices that emphasize servant-leadership.

Today, the ILA seeks to provide information, partnership, networking, consulting, training and facilitation to promote these collaborative values and practices throughout the community.