LeaderKids

Building the Leaders of Tomorrow

At Leadership Fort Worth, we believe everyone has a leader inside. Our youth program, LeaderKids, encourages middle-school students to develop leadership skills such as taking initiative, setting achievable goals, and becoming strong communicators.

What started in 1995 with a simple invitation by then Mayor Kay Granger to become involved with the “Our City, Our Children” initiative to make Fort Worth a “more child-friendly city” has become one of our most impactful programs.

LeaderKids is an operating program of Leadership Fort Worth in partnership with the Fort Worth Independent School District and TCU Leadership Center. Participants are select eighth-grade students representing middle schools in the school district, chosen with the assistance of the Intervention Specialists in the schools. The LeaderKids program offers well-rounded opportunities and experiences for participants in an effort to create future leaders.

Learn what LeaderKids is centered around

Five Leadership Practices – Model The Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Enable Others To Act, Challenge The Process, Encourage The Heart, to help cultivate leadership qualities in participants.

Higher education and career readiness through group visits to our community’s civic, corporate, charitable, and educational centers.

Local jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities available to them.

Project planning and community engagement through the implementation of a Community Service Learning Project.

Group discussions and presentations encouraging self-confidence and the ability to communicate in groups.

Interaction with student and adult mentors year-round allowing them meaningful feedback from individuals who are leaders in their respective fields.

Exposure to diverse institutions in the city of Fort Worth allowing them to visualize personal achievement as adults.

Community Service

Each year, participants in LeaderKids take on an 8-month community service project that fulfills a real need in the community and allows them to flex their leadership muscles. The program is focused on four objectives that help students explore the five leadership practices, education and career opportunities, opportunities to build self-confidence, and the practice of teamwork. The program objective is:

Understand the process of planning a project
Cultivate the skills of brainstorming, consensus building, decision making, resource management, collaboration, execution, and completion
Practice working with partners of different backgrounds having unique expertise and personalities
Contribute towards and improve the community in which they live

Each group selects a feasible community project which fulfills a need expressed by a local organization. The goal of the project is to support the host organization by finding and implementing a way to serve our fellow citizens better. Our projects have ranged from enriching urban spaces for a neighborhood to enhancing play and learning spaces for school children to the documentation of the heritage and living environment of a community.

Project planning begins each January of every program year. Students work closely with Leadership Fort Worth staff, TCU student mentors, host organizations, multiple community partners, and sponsors in a step-by-step approach towards project day. We never forget to celebrate our achievement afterward!

Through this program, LeaderKids 8th-grade students have spent over 500 hours in community service each program year!