People offer varying opinions of what makes a city great. Natural and manmade assets. Public transportation. Openness to newcomers. Education levels and economic stability. Authenticity. The list goes on.

What makes a city great can best be described as resiliency. Resiliency is the capacity of a city's leaders and people to reinvent communities and strategies as circumstances change, to continuously anticipate and adjust to changes that threaten their core earning power, and to change before the need becomes desperately obvious. Resiliency is innovative leadership in action.

The work of Leadership Memphis is focused on increasing the capacity of this city to become great by being resilient. We do this by identifying and challenging innovative leaders to become more engaged in the civic leadership of the community. Innovative leaders are an important part of the equation, because they have to take on the status quo - those who would prefer things stay as they are. Staying the same is not a viable strategy for any city in today's economy.

Memphis is at a point in time when things must change quickly. There must be a sense of urgency among leaders to push Memphis beyond its comfort zones and into the future.

Leadership Memphis is committed to working with proven leaders who demonstrate an ability to bring about innovative change within their field of expertise and challenging them to learn how to use their leadership skills for the benefit of the larger community.

The purpose of Leadership Memphis is to provide accelerated preparation of community leaders via three strategic programmatic goals:

Leadership Memphis will:

• Increase creative and innovative community leadership
• Stimulate civic engagement that promotes leadership accountability
• Advance community diversity and inclusivity