18 Valley Leaders to Graduate Saturday

This Saturday will be a day of celebration at the Great Valley Center as 18 emerging regional leaders graduate from the Great Valley Center’s Institute for the Development of Emerging Area Leaders (IDEAL).

The graduation ceremony will take place:
June 13th, 5:30 p.m.
Great Valley Center
201 Needham Street, Modesto

This group of diverse regional leaders, who represent communities throughout the Valley, have spent the last six months traveling the region and meeting monthly to engage in discussions with regional and statewide experts in areas such as agriculture, the economy, transportation, land use, and the environment.

→Learn about the 2009 IDEAL Fellows

“This year’s IDEAL class contributes immense talent and potential that will add significantly to the network of up-and-coming leaders who will make a difference in the Valley," stated Great Valley Center program manger Manuel Alvarado about this year's class.

About IDEAL:
The goal of IDEAL is to foster leaders with effective, creative, and quality decision-making skills in order to increase their capacity as leaders to improve public affairs in the Central Valley. In its eight years of operation the IDEAL program has had180 participants graduate, of which, 32 alumni have gone on to local elected office, over 90 have served on planning commissions or appointed boards, and 128 have utilized their leadership skills by serving on nonprofit boards.

→Learn more about the IDEAL Program