Our mission is to connect people and prepare them as leaders to shape the future of Santa Fe.
Leadership Santa Fe is a program designed to enhance leadership resources for the community of Santa Fe.
Our vision is to engage and develop diverse and effective leaders for the future of the community.
We accomplish this by giving civic-minded people a vehicle for their community-oriented energies and providing access to community leaders and policymakers in our adult program, and our youth leadership program.
Leadership Santa Fe is a non-profit, 501(c)3 and is a program and DBA of the Santa Fe Chamber of Opportunities Fund.
Our History
In 1983, a group of civic-minded individuals gathered at the home of Gloria Sawtell to talk about developing a leadership program for Santa Fe. Gloria was an active volunteer and community leader in Santa Fe. She was a founding board member of the Santa Fe Community Foundation, announced a Santa Fe Living Treasure in 1991, and contributed widely to various community efforts around the city. The group included: Mary Carole Wertheim, Bernie Beenhouwer, Marcia Canepa, and Alan Jordan. Many of you will recognize the names of individuals who continued to serve our community as city councilors, mentors, and business people. The program was completely organized by volunteers responsible for developing each learning day focused on a particular issue. Since its inception, hundreds of graduates of Leadership Santa Fe have continued their involvement in making Santa Fe a better place for over 23 years. The program took a hiatus of several years from 2001 to 2006. It began again with the Class of 2007 under a new Board of Directors including Charlotte Pollard, Rosemary Romero, Gregg Bemis, and Carl Moore.
In 2009 the program came under the auspice of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce’s non-profit wing, the Opportunities Fund. A new Governing Committee was established which included J.D. Bullington, Craig DeForest, and several alumni whose purpose was to shepherd the program, develop the curriculum, and reconnect with graduates. Since then, the program has flourished and continues to achieve its goal of enhancing leadership resources for the community of Santa Fe.
Now, Leadership Santa Fe is governed by the Board of Directors of the Santa Fe Opportunities Fund, and the Leadership Santa Fe Committee.