The Story of Leadership Buffalo, Inc.

1987, Leadership Buffalo is born

Leadership Buffalo, or "LB," as we're fondly called by our many graduates and within the community, was founded in 1987 as a project of the Greater Buffalo Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the Junior League of Buffalo. A Committee of 46 individuals was selected to research other community leadership programs and make recommendations for the Greater Buffalo program.

1988, The first Class Experience program is held

The first Class Experience was in 1988 and was comprised of 35 participants chosen from many cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds.

1990, Youth Leadership Erie County Program was formed

Beginning in 1990, the need to focus on the development of leadership in high school sophomores and juniors was recognized. Thus, Youth Leadership Erie County was born. Leadership Buffalo was blooming and began to expand its expertise so that they could accommodate soon-to-be-leaders in all stages of their lives.

2003, The Rising Leaders program was started

In 2003, Rising Leaders, which focuses on up-and-coming 21st century leaders ages 22-35, was started. Rising Leaders follows a format similar to the Class Experience while exposing participants to the underlying skills of effective community leaders.

Along with its year-long core programs, Leadership Buffalo has much more to offer including:

• The Experience Buffalo program for newly relocated senior executives and their spouses or significant others.
• The Graduate Program- offered to Graduates of the Class Experience and Rising Leaders programs. This program is offered periodically.
• The Community Facilitation Team- offers graduates of the Class Experience and Rising Leaders, who receive additional skills training, the opportunity to serve as community facilitators to smaller non-profit organizations, community groups and municipalities across the region.