Leadership Lawrence

As you may know, after years of inspiring leaders, building connections, and leaving an incredible mark on our community, Sue Hack is retiring from her role as Executive Director of Leadership Lawrence. 💙

Sue, we love you and wish you the best as you begin this exciting new chapter!

Join us on May 27 for an open house celebrating both Sue Hack and Tiffany Hall on their time with the Chamber. In order to help us accurately accommodate for snacks / bevs, please register here: https://members.lawrencechamber.com/events/details/open-house-in-celebration-of-sue-hack-and-tiffany-hall-18085

Congratulations to the Leadership Lawrence Class of 2026! Check out the blog and view the gallery here:

https://www.lawrencechamber.com/2026-leadership-lawrence-graduation/

Leadership Lawrence Graduation for the 2026 Class is NEXT FRIDAY! If you haven’t registered yet, please take a moment today to do so.

Reach out to your own LL classmates and have a reunion at this event!

Friday, May 1
Abe & Jake’s Landing
5:15pm - 7:30pm

Register here: https://members.lawrencechamber.com/events/details/2026-leadership-lawrence-graduation-17064

Last week was Social Services Day for the 2026 Leadership Lawrence class. This day is one at which class members learn about the obstacles that many of our fellow community members face as well as how our social service agencies provide support. The day began with an exercise run by the Douglas County Re-Entry staff. It is designed to show the difficulties that many experience once they have been released from jail so that the class could have a better understanding of their situation. Following that, Patrick Kelly worked with the class on an activity called Immunity to Change. The class learned road blocks that we tend to put up as we navigate challenges in our own lives. The day ended with the class being able to go out and visit with a variety of social service agencies and we are so grateful for their willingness to have the class come to visit and learn about the agency.

Many thanks to Central National Bank for their continued generous support of this important day as well as Douglas County Community Foundation for sponsoring the Class of 2026.

Yesterday was Arts and Culture Day for the 2026 Class of Leadership Lawrence. Will Averill and Lori McSorely along with their committee planned an excellent and fun day for the class. We started at the Lied Center of Kansas and finished at VanGo. What terrific bookends for a terrific day. Thanks to Derek Kwan and the Lied Center for sponsoring the day and to Matt Llewellyn and 23rd Street Brewery for providing another wonderful lunch. It was a great day and next up is Social Services. We appreciate the support of the Douglas County Community Foundation for its support of the program. Happy Thanksgiving!

Last week was Education Day for the Class of 2026. As always it was a full day and many thanks go to Shane Heiman and Diana Moore for leading the committee that planned this great day. The day included tours of a variety of schools in Lawrence and Douglas County that ranged from preschools to higher ed. In addition, the class learned from School Superintendent Dr. Jeanice Swift as well as Dr. Lisa Wolf-Wendel and Dr. Susan Twombly from The University of Kansas. The sponsor for the day was Kindred CPA and lunch was provided by The Lawrence Schools Foundation. Our next class will be Arts and Culture.

Another beautiful Kansas sunrise and the start of Communications Day. From learning how Incident Command is working with so many groups to plan for the World Cup, to assembling tinker toy creations, to learning how to have difficult conversations, the LL2026 class had quite a day! Many thanks to our day sponsors Midco and the Journal World, our lunch sponsor Bartlett & West, our coffee sponsor Critter Cintrol and as always the Presenting Sponsor for this year, Douglas County Community Foundation. Now it’s on to Education Day!

Leadership Lawrence Class of 2026 is off to a great start. The focus of the two day Opening Retreat was to help class members learn about their classmates, learn about leadership skills and learn about themselves. Many thanks to DCCF, the Presenting Sponsor for LL2026, Stephens Real Estate, sponsor of the Opening Retreat and 23rd St. Brewery for donating a wonderful lunch. Next up is Communications Day which promises to be great.

This is part 1 of 3 videos, showcasing your City of Lawrence, Kansas - Municipal Government City Commission candidates. See where they stand on business-related issues.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/DPqoEt4rIFg?si=uCUY_-_rbNHDl4Ku