Leadership Skagit receives grant from Skagit Community Foundation

The Skagit Community Foundation has awarded Leadership Skagit a $5,000 Blackburn Family grant in its most recent round of funding.

Leadership Skagit, a program of EDASC in partnership with Skagit Valley College, is a community experiential leadership development program that has graduated nearly 600 participants since the program started in 2003. Participants attend one “Challenge Day” each month and two two-day retreats over the course of the nine-month program. Each Challenge Day examines a different facet of Skagit County, from ecology to government to economic vitality to arts and culture. Participants also complete a group capstone project that benefits a local nonprofit organization. 

Skagit Valley College provides the curriculum for Leadership Skagit while EDASC provides the operations, and financial and logistics support. In addition, more than 100 community volunteers donate their time to Leadership Skagit as a program adviser, Challenge Day organizer, or guest speaker. 

The cost to provide the program to one participant is $5,000, although tuition covers only about two-thirds of that cost. EDASC relies on business and government sponsorships to help fill the gap. 

“EDASC and all who support Leadership Skagit deeply appreciate this first-ever grant from the Skagit Community Foundation and the Blackburn Family,” said EDASC CEO John Sternlicht. “Tuition covers about 60% of the cost per participant, and we want to keep the program accessible, so additional support such as this grant is critical to the sustainability of Leadership Skagit.”

The next cohort of Leadership Skagit (Class of 2025) begins in September.