The Class Ends. The Connections Shouldn't.

Every Community Leadership School (CLS) class begins with people from across Greater Peoria stepping into a shared experience.

Some may already know one another by name or organization. Others are meeting for the first time. Over 16 weeks, participants learn together, see the region from new perspectives, work through challenges, and form relationships outside their usual professional circles.

Then graduation arrives.

The class ends on schedule. Leadership doesn’t.

For more than 50 years, CLS has prepared people to contribute more deeply to their organizations and communities. Today, more than 1,400 alumni carry that experience with them across Greater Peoria.

Together, they form a network rich with experience, expertise, and perspectives, all connected by a shared commitment to this region. Keeping that network strong requires meaningful opportunities to reconnect.

What comes after graduation?

Our alumni have told us they want more ways to stay connected. They want to reconnect with former classmates, meet graduates from other years, continue learning, and discover new opportunities to collaborate.

Their leadership needs continue evolving long after the program ends. Careers change. Responsibilities grow. New challenges emerge. At every stage, trusted peers can offer perspective, share experience, and help one another think differently.

The Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation is responding with the inaugural CLS Leaders’ Summit powered by Maloof Realty. Created as an advanced leadership experience, the summit gives CLS alumni a new way to continue growing while welcoming leaders who haven’t participated in the program (...yet).

An advanced experience open to all leaders

The inaugural CLS Leaders’ Summit will take place Friday, October 23, from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Distillery Labs.

The morning begins with a Networking Power Hour and featured keynote, followed by choices that let participants shape the experience around what they need most. Expert breakout sessions will explore Unreasonable Hospitality in Leadership and Leading with the Community in Mind. Collaborative discussions will focus on a Leadership Hacks Exchange and The Speed of Thinking.

In one focused morning, participants will exchange ideas with peers, gain practical strategies, and leave with takeaways they can apply in their organizations and communities.

The summit is open to all leaders committed to continuous growth. CLS alumni receive discounted registration, and leaders from outside the program will find the same caliber of connection and professional development that has defined CLS for more than 50 years.

Opening the experience to a broader leadership community adds new perspectives to the network. When leaders across industries and sectors know one another, ideas travel farther, shared challenges become easier to recognize, and collaborations can take root.

Extending the impact of CLS

The Leaders’ Summit reflects the Foundation’s commitment to leadership development that continues well beyond graduation. It gives alumni a reason to find one another again and invites more of Greater Peoria’s leaders into the conversations shaping our organizations and community.

CLS has spent more than five decades helping people better understand Greater Peoria and their role within it. The relationships formed during those 16 weeks carry that work forward into businesses, nonprofit organizations, public service, and communities throughout the region.

Graduation can mark the end of a class. It shouldn’t mark the end of the leadership journey.

The impact of CLS continues through the ideas leaders carry forward, the relationships they maintain, and the possibilities they create together. The CLS Leaders’ Summit powered by Maloof Realty gives that impact a new place to grow.

Learn more and register at peoriachamber.org/events