​​On June 17, LaToya Davenport, Director of Boys Town South Florida Program Support Services, and Lucia Stanfield, Director of Boys Town South Florida In-Home Family Services, graduated from the Nonprofits First’s Rising Leader Program. The Boys Town employees were 2 of 22 nonprofit workers to complete the training.

The program, launched in 2005, was developed to teach participants effective strategies when handling major leadership or organizational challenges in order to help them advance to the next level of personal and professional growth.

The Rising Leader Program spans six months, beginning in January with two consecutive days of training. February through May, the participants attend one day of training each month, with an evening networking event in February. In June, the program hosts an overnight retreat at a South Florida conference center, followed by the program graduation ceremony and celebration later that month.

The curriculum spans a variety of topics, including leadership and communication, negotiation, overcoming the five dysfunctions of a team, and leading change.

“I wanted to make sure that I seize every opportunity to develop as a leader so I can have as many tools in my tool belt, in order to serve my site and my team with the utmost quality and level of excellence that they deserve,” Stanfield said.

Stanfield walked away from the Rising Leader Program with ”a better understanding of the core function of other leadership styles, and how my leadership style can complement their, and vice versa.” This awareness will help her be more productive with her peers at Boys Town.

The program also includes service-learning, where participants spend 10-15 additional hours working on a service project with other members of the program. Davenport’s service-learning group “created a Board Orientation and Volunteer Manual (to include agency strategic plan, CQI plan, updated policies and procedures, and marketing/development plan) for Grandma’s Place, a local emergency placement shelter for children who are victims of abuse and/or neglect.”

Davenport frequently works with Boys Town South Florida’s Board Orientation and Volunteer Manual, so the development of the manuals for Grandma’s Place was something she was familiar with.

“It was quite simple, but just a tad bit different since they are an emergency shelter placement,” she said. “There were different law and contract requirements for both, but my past experience working with foster homes prior to coming to Boys Town was a tremendous plus and made the process go a lot smoother for me and my team.”

The service-learning project taught Davenport a lot about residential treatment facilities from an administration standpoint and how it coincides with Florida law, but she also learned a lot about herself as a leader.

“It taught me a certain level of patience in dealing with difficult situations and people and problem-solving skills I never knew I had,” she said.

Davenport also learned “how to work better in a team setting with different personality types.”

In Stanfield’s service-learning project, she worked with Diabetes Coalition, helping them host a Diabetes Symposium for Medical and Mental Health Professions.

“This experience taught me how to let go of control, and allow other leaders, professionals, and competent individuals do their part in the process,” Stanfield said.

The service-learning project allowed her to recognize individual strengths and learning styles of group members.

“It was very liberating,” she said.

For Davenport, the program gave her an opportunity to step back and look at the daily pressures of her job and look at the bigger picture. She was also able to learn new skills and enhance her preexisting ones.

“Paying attention to your own leadership development will not only make you a better leader but will also make your organization a better organization as well,” she said.

After graduating from the program, Davenport feels that she what she has learned “will help me to become more comfortable in my current role as Director of Program Support Services and with working within any part of the Boys Town organization.”

Stanfield believes that she will be able to “help my team develop into leaders by helping them embrace their individual strengths and leadership styles, so they, too, can grow into future leaders at Boys Town.”