An Extension Leadership Council (ELC) is a key ingredient for success in developing, implementing, and evaluating Extension programs that serve the local community. This publication offers practical guidelines and resources for successfully engaging a local ELC. Contents include council responsibilities, criteria for membership, a sample position description, focus topics for regular meetings, and a template for meeting agendas. It is intended as a resource for both volunteers and Extension personnel.

A survey by the Center for Public Leadership suggests that despite some Americans’ belief that “our leaders are effective and do a good job,” 69 percent of Americans believe there is a leadership crisis (Rosenthal 2012, p. 1). Extension is well-positioned to address this need for leader development due to our role in developing and delivering leadership programs that serve youth, college-aged students, and adults. Even still, practitioners are desperately trying to respond to this crisis with deliberate and appropriately planned leadership development programming (Murphy and Johnson 2011).