By Clyde Noel

There isn’t a better way to find out how your community ticks than enrolling in a leadership program. Most Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce staffs run the programs. When you examine the alumni, Leadership Mountain View (LMV) stands out.

Jerome “Jerry” Jones, present chairman of the Mountain View Chamber of commerce, is an alumnus of the class of 2000.

“Having a business here helped me get a sense of the community,” Jones said. “It made me aware of what was going on in the city and provided an access to elected officials and city employees.”

The present class has 31 members who live in or work in Mountain View. When “students” graduate in June, they should have a better understanding of the issues important to Mountain View and the region.

On the first day of the present program, Mark Guterman of the Growth and Leadership Center kicked off the morning with a session on the nature of leadership, followed by a day of teambuilding exercises in a nearby park.

At the end of the day, the Leadership Mountain View Alumni Association hosted a wine reception sponsored by Shoreline Amphitheatre to bring alumni and new class members together.

For the class of 2003, more than 50 alumni and new class members attended to enjoy the opportunity to get acquainted and drink wine.

Twana Karney, program director, moved to Mountain View in 1994 as a knowledge management consultant for Hewlett-Packard.

Someone suggested she join the Leadership MV program in 1995 to be a part of the community.

“It’s nice that I can walk down the street and go to the grocery store and meet people that I know,” Karney said.

“It’s surprising how many residents have gone through the program and run for the city council since the program started in 1990.”

Some of the LMV alumni who attended Leadership Mountain View are: Sally Lieber, California State Assembly District 22; Mountain View City Council members Matt Neely and Rosemary Stasek; and numerous members of the planning commission and Mountain View-Whisman School District Board of Trustees.

Carol Olson, President of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce is a graduate of the class of 1997.

“You can’t look at any elected board or non profit and not find a leadership graduate,” Olson said. “We even have an LMV alumni association that keeps connections going strong.”

Olson is the first to admit that after she went through the program, it opened a lot of doors that she didn’t know were there. She suggested everyone should go through it in the city where they want to be involved.

“It provides a sense of belonging that is hard to get anywhere else,” she said.

Los Altos has a leadership program run by the Los Altos Community Foundation, not the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce.

Leadership Mountain View is an intensive public affairs and leadership development program designed to equip the community’s civic leadership for effective service. It consists of nine seminars from September through May.

The program covers regional issues, education, environment and health and human services with members from the community.

Each program is hosted by a different Mountain View business or organization. They also provide the venue and the food.

Tuition for the nine-month program is $1,500.

There are some limited scholarships, but most companies support the employees participation through education reimbursement programs.

Applications are now being accepted for the class of 2004. For more information, call Twana Karney, program director at the Chamber of Commerce, 968-8378.