Adult leadership group spreads concept to high school students

ALBANY – Leadership Albany Inc. has been providing training and networking for individuals looking to move the community forward since 1984, and now some of those participating in the 2026 class are spreading that concept to area high school students.

This week, about 15 Dougherty County high school sophomores, juniors and seniors took part in the first Albany Junior Leaders class. 

The leadership class was the community project for a group of the Leadership Albany Class of 2026. The students kicked the three-day training program off on Wednesday at Albany Technical College, followed by sessions at Thronateeska Heritage Center on Thursday and ending on Friday at the Resora conference center,

The goal is to give the students the same benefits that the adults get from Leadership Albany, said Cassandra Kinsler, the project manager for the effort and founder of the nonprofit group the Dedicated Opinionated Purposeful Educated (DOPE) Squad.

“This was lifted from Leadership Albany,” she said. “The purpose of Albany Junior Leaders is to pull together leaders from all over the community. We wanted to give these youths the same experience and the same exposure we’re getting in Leadership Albany.”

Leadership Albany Inc. trains a class of about 30 community members over an 11-month period each year, with about nine class days during that time and two retreats to other communities, board member Lisa Stephens said. A fireside chat in October will feature former Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor as the leader.

The Leadership Albany classes are made up of about 30 participants from various industries, education levels and economic backgrounds. 

“They are exposed to issues and topics that are important to Albany and southwest Georgia,” Stephens said. “As a board member, seeing the members of Leadership Albany come together to start a program, to see them come together and see a problem and turn it into action … it’s exciting.”

Each class of Leadership Albany is broken into four groups that each select a different community project. 

The other projects for the class of 2026 include a swim safety program to provide supplies at Driskell Park, one that is enhancing a community directory that was created by one of the groups last year and one that is working on providing financial literacy in the community.

“We wanted them to formulate the project, identify the needs and put it into action,” Stephens said. 

The plan is for the Albany Junior Leaders program to extend beyond just a 2026 project.

“This is something we’re hoping to grow,” Kinsler said. “We would like it to grow beyond Leadership Albany, to grow beyond us. This is definitely a resume-builder for them. We will be doing community projects in the future. They’ll be able to take this with them for the rest of their lives.”