2026 Leader of the Year Nomination - due February 22, 2026

Nominees do NOT need to be graduates of Leadership Lake County.

Nominees may NOT be current political candidates running for partisan offices.

Nominators MUST be LLC alumni who have paid their annual dues or are current class participants. To ensure your dues are current, please click here.

Only information contained in this nomination form will be considered by the Leader of the Year selection committee. Any additional information submitted outside of this form will not be reviewed.

Part I – Leadership Accomplishments

The nominee should be making an impact to the Lake County community outside of the scope of her/his professional position.

Explain specific accomplishments through the nominee’s leadership beyond their professional position that have either directly benefited the larger community or indirectly benefited the larger community via the nonprofits/initiatives in which they are involved and why you think it is important.

• Identify specific accomplishments and the resulting outcomes and how they impacted the community.

This section may include:

List of organizations with which your nominee is involved within the last five years.

• Do/did they hold an office within any of the organizations?

• Length of time they have been involved in the organizations.

• Identify specific accomplishments.

Part II- Leadership Lake County Values Demonstration

The following core values or guiding principles serve as the foundation and framework for Leadership Lake County’s strategic plan and the organization’s daily operations:

• Relationship Building. We believe that honest, authentic relationships are at the core of a healthy, stable community.
• Inclusion and Diversity. We respect, appreciate and engage the unique perspectives and contributions of all members of our community.
• Highest ethical conduct. We believe that holding ourselves to the highest standards of ethical conduct requires us to model compassionate and effective leadership in all aspects of our lives.
• Responsiveness. We believe we are responsible to respond to the needs of our community, to encourage personal and professional growth, and to empower citizens to take action.
• Collaboration. We believe we are a stronger community when we partner to achieve and scale outcomes that have a positive community impact.

Provide specific details of how this individual’s leadership style demonstrates the five core values of Leadership Lake County:

Part III- Mission Alignment

Please explain how this individual has developed and engaged present and future leaders to become committed to social, economic, and civic excellence in our community. Include examples of specific actions and outcomes.

Part IV - Review

Please take a moment to review the full nomination form and ensure you have answered each section as completely as possible. The Leader of the Year selection committee will only consider information shared in this submission as it scores and ranks each nominee. The rubric noted on the Leader of the Year page on our website identifies the parameters in which each nomination will be reviewed. Selection committee members have pledged to only use this information in their assessment of each candidate and will do their best to not allow outside knowledge to inform their final rankings.