On June 13th, the class of 2019-2020 Leadership Odessa graduated! These hard-working individuals from a variety of sectors, including education, medical, small business, law enforcement, banking, hospitality, non-profits, etc. completed this 9-month long program. During their time they explored Odessa, discovered and learned different leadership skills, and gave back to the Odessa community.
The Leadership Odessa program is open to anyone who currently lives or works in Odessa, and whose organization is a Chamber Member. If you are new to Odessa, it’s the quickest way to get plugged into the community.
Although overseen by the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Odessa is essentially a participant-run program. The previous year’s graduates put their new leadership skills to work immediately, organizing into committees, and facilitating the incoming class activities. This passing of the leadership torch has been working beautifully since the program’s founding in 1978.
This was the 43rd class and had 52 participants who graduated. This was also graduation that will go down in history. Due to COVID-19, this was a drive-by style graduation at the Connection Christian Church located.