August 4, 2020 – The first-ever class of the Flagler County Leadership Academy graduated during a brief ceremony in Commission Chambers, at the start of the regular meeting of the County Commission on August 3.

Sixteen students – representing the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, and the Flagler County Tax Collector’s Office – were recognized for completing this leadership development program, which kicked off last September.

“I am extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to sit with this incredibly talented, smart, strong, and dedicated group of people,” said class valedictorian Shelly Edmonson, who works for the Tax Collector’s Office. “But throughout this class, we found out that being a leader is not about us, it is about others! Our ultimate job is to build genuine relationships and to create future leaders.”

County Administrator Jerry Cameron and Dr. Joe Saviak, Executive Director Flagler Sheriff’s Leadership Institute – who previously taught Public Administration at Flagler College – facilitated the program. The materials and methodology of the Academy are in line with graduate level-coursework, and the program is structured like those undertaken by Fortune 500 companies.

Cameron thanked the Board for their support of the program.

“It was this Commission that had the vision to recognize the importance of future leadership for this county,” he said. “It was you that allowed this to move forward, along with our Sheriff who participated in this, with us, by providing Dr. Saviak to co-teach.”

The rigorous curriculum was designed to develop the potential of top-tier staff, to further professionalize the agencies, and to establish succession planning. The course of study utilized an intimate class size to promote a high level of student engagement. More than 40 hours of external training included opportunities to participate in executive level planning and issue resolution.

“During our final class,” said Edmonson, “someone pointed out, that we started this journey following a crisis (Hurricane Dorian) and ended in crisis (Covid-19, now Tropical Storm Isaias). Kind of like the bookends of this journey. However, I would say… we are just getting started.”