The Chamber’s Leadership program is a premier academy that welcomes leaders at all levels and in all organizations in San Mateo County and equips them with the knowledge, tools and opportunities to evolve their skills to the next level in service of their community. Each class participates in ten diverse and dynamic day-long sessions with experts, decision-makers, practitioners, and funders across all spectrums of the business, government, not-for-profit and education sectors.

Through focused sessions on one Friday each month, spanning from September through June, participants learn about timely and relevant issues of vital concern to our region and explore how they can effectively shape the future of our community, their organization, or their business.

The broad portfolio of topics explored each year in the Leadership program grounds participants in the history, challenges and realities of topics. From government, education, housing, transportation, safety, healthcare and economic development, the Leadership program sparks ongoing conversations that lead to collaborations and network-building. This service-centric approach to lifting participants into community leadership roles is grounded in the Leadership program’s focus on exposing participants to varying viewpoints and alternatives about the session topics from experts, practitioners and decision-makers.

We invite those individuals seeking to challenge themselves by becoming more educated, exposed and involved in their community to apply for the 2025-2026 Leadership class, as participants will:

• Gain a broader understanding of their community and how it functions by interacting with influential community leaders.
• Acquire valuable information and access to resources, which will aid them in their professional work and civic engagement.
• Have the opportunity to join a network of more than 1,500 program graduates which will connect them and their work with professionals and leaders across all segments of San Mateo County.

Applications

The 2026-2027 Leadership Program is now accepting applications for its Fall class starting September 2026. Deadline to apply is by July 1, 2026.

For any questions/concerns, please contact Amy Buckmaster atamy@chambersmc.org.