At present Leadership Ohio programming is conducted in person. Regarding Covid-19 or similar crises, we are committed to adhering to state and community policies and guidelines and will also make our own determinations related to health and safety. Leadership Ohio reserves the right to adjust its operations to be in-person or virtual, and accordingly, admitted Fellows must commit to be adaptable. We will not offer any

hybrid sessions, meaning the entire class will meet either in-person OR virtually, but not both at the same time. In any format, tuition remains the same.

Outside of the monthly program sessions, Fellows should expect to spend two-three hours each month reviewing agendas and embedded prep materials, and meeting in their Symposia.

Note all dates, times, and locations are subject to change.

Session times are approximately 9:00am to 7:00pm on Fridays and 9:00am to 1:00pm on Saturdays. The exceptions are the Opening Retreat, which will occur on Thursday from 9:00am to 7:00pm and Homecoming Saturday and Graduation Saturday, which are both scheduled from 9:00am until 4:00pm.

February: Leadership Ohio Press Conference (encouraged, but optional) —  Friday, February 20, 2026 | 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the Ohio State House

March: Opening Retreat & Licking County Session — Thursday, March 19 | Friday, March 20, 2026 | Saturday, March 21, 2026. 

April: Akron/Canton Session — Friday, April 17, 2026 | Saturday, April 18, 2026. 

May: Cincinnati Session — Friday, May 15, 2026 | Saturday, May 16, 2026. 

June: Cleveland Session — Friday, June 26, 2026 | Saturday, June 27, 2026.

July: Dayton Session — Friday, July 17, 2026 | Saturday, July 18, 2026. 

August: Capital Session (Columbus, OH) /Homecoming — Friday, August 14, 2026 | Saturday, August 15, 2026.

September: Sandusky Session — Friday, September 18, 2026 | Saturday, September 19, 2026. 

October: Appalachia Session (Southeast, OH) — Friday, October 16, 2026 | Saturday, October 17, 2026.

November: Marysville Session/Graduation — Friday, November 20, 2026 | Saturday, November 21, 2026.

Applications received on or before December 31, 2025 will be given priority review on a rolling basis and are eligible for early admission. All applications must be submitted by February 1, 2026. Individuals who apply during the later phase have a higher probability of being waitlisted if selected.

No fee, 0% interest payment plans are available on a limited basis. Early application is encouraged.

A limited number of partial scholarships may be available. Please check the website for the latest information. Applicants are expected to have sought and exhausted other avenues of funding prior to applying for a partial scholarship.

Applicants are selected and admitted in the spirit of forming a diverse and dynamic class where a diversity of viewpoints are encouraged, and seating is limited. Selection is at the discretion of staff and/or Trustees. Leadership Ohio does not provide feedback on applications or candidacies and all application materials are held in confidence.

To become a Fellow of Leadership Ohio, an individual who is a resident of Ohio and at least 18 years of age must first be nominated. Once nominated, an individual may be invited to apply. A limited number of applicants are accepted into each class of Leadership Ohio.

LO will limit class size to 35 Fellows. Because we have limited seats, we ask anyone applying to be 100% committed to the Leadership Ohio experience.

The application fee for 2026 is $100.00. It is non-refundable and non-applicable to tuition.

Tuition is $6,500. About 75% of Fellows’ tuition is paid by their employer, and 25% pay tuition themselves. Sometimes employers and Fellows split the cost. Please note that tuition covers the cost of the program and some meals (note if you have strong preferences regarding meals, you are welcome to pack your own). Participants may anticipate additional costs of ~$1,600 for hotels, mileage, parking, and meals like breakfast (if not included in your hotel rate), etc. This is an average only; the figure may increase or decrease depending on your location in the state, whether or not you elect to drive in the day-of, carpool, share rooms, elect five star vs. four star accommodations, etc.

Fellows who meet all the requirements receive a Commendation from the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Ohio testifying to their accomplishment. LO also provides certificates of completion and issues participant assessments at the sole request of employers.

The LO program is delivered through facilitators guiding exchanges and Q & A between panels, guest speakers, etc. and Fellows. LO employs multiple facilitators across the program year. It is important to note that current Fellows do not facilitate, teach, select, or influence the curriculum or experience - including if/when LO visits their city or region. LO is not an overly facilitated program.

No. Further, the Leadership Ohio program does not provide training on DEI, although issues of social justice are sometimes included in sessions.

Organizations, guest speakers, and Fellows will represent a diversity of viewpoints, and will be in different places in their own learning and/or work related to social justice. Collectively we trust that people are showing up where they are with as much as they have to give, and we believe that this is worth celebrating.

It is no secret that we are living in a highly polarized and divisive era. Individuals that become a part of Leadership Ohio are expected to rise above these times. Psychological flexibility is everything.

> Watch this brief video: What is Viewpoint Diversity?

Fellows should expect and help to build civil discourse that encourages viewpoint diversity. Fellows should not self-censor nor shame or disincentivize dialogue across differences. Continual reflection and self-evaluation regarding personal alignment with values of humility, open-mindedness, curiosity, respect for all viewpoints, and grace are essential.

In 2024 topics included (for example) economic development, early childhood education, human trafficking, opioid addiction, agriculture, restoring citizenship, civil discourse, urban renewal, gerrymandering, the biennial budget, and countless others.

Yes. Each Fellow will be assigned a Symposia group that meets virtually for one hour, once per month. The Symposia are composed to reflect diverse political ideologies.

No. Leadership Ohio will not have a project component in 2025.

• Panel discussions with transformational actors on relevant local and statewide issues
• Briefings and Q & A with elected officials (i.e. Mayor, Ohio legislator, U.S.
• congressman/congresswoman, Secretary of State, Ohio Supreme Court Justice, etc.)
• Breakout discussion groups of Fellows sharing insights, questions, and how they might leverage new knowledge in their personal or professional work
• Tours, performances, other experiences (i.e. Personal tour of GoodYear Blimp Air Hangar with a pilot or spending the afternoon inside the Ohio Women’s Reformatory with the Warden and residents)
• Alumni events that continue building and reinforcing the LO statewide network

The program curriculum is designed to provide Fellows with a survey view of multiple Ohio cities and regions, and key issues at play in these locales that may also reverberate across Ohio. Participation in Leadership Ohio has been described as akin to “getting an MBA in all things Ohio!”

Given that the cohort meets for 1.5 days per month for eight months, it should go without saying that the program is pitched for a high level view of cities or regions, with brief but critical excursions into many issues of the day. Fellows should expect to perform their own inquiries around the issues that interest them the most, reach out to learn more from guest panelists, etc. While for most, 1.5 days of uninterrupted learning, reflection, and networking per month across eight months is a privilege, it is also true that we have a finite amount of time and must be realistic about what we can accomplish together.

• They battle their own sense of entitlement
• They leave their egos at the door
• They embrace progress over perfection
• They take accountability for their own learning
• They discourage self-censorship and do not shame or disincentivize dialogue across differences; they believe disagreement is no reason to stop talking with one another.

Our Fellows represent all regions in Ohio. They are a diverse body of top talent representing various political ideologies, professions, backgrounds, experiences, and generations. The program seeks:

• Senior level leaders with significant achievements in career, community, or civic spheres and select high-potential individuals;
• Individuals with both an authentic concern and optimism about the future of Ohio and a personal commitment to help shape that future, and,
• Individuals with a willingness to commit the time and energy necessary to complete the program and achieve their own idea of program success.

Citizens engaged in their communities are vital, not just because engagement fosters trust in public institutions and legitimacy in public processes, but also because it is correlated to a strong educational system, a competitive workforce, and a dynamic economy.

Community engagement, simply put, is good for business. A growing body of evidence, including corporate responsibility studies by the Federal Reserve, academics, and the private sector (including a year-long study by DeLoitte) supports this statement and suggests a clear correlation between robust economies and an engaged citizenry.

Individual businesses and their employees can profit from more active civic engagement as well, experiencing better business development and higher employee retention, and companies reviewing resumes respond more favorably to individuals who serve or volunteer.

The common thread is participation in and building of one’s community. At Leadership Ohio it means improving quality of life, making a difference, and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, trust, and motivation among people to give back and take action together across our great state.

You won’t find a more rewarding opportunity to explore how you might contribute to a more promising future for Ohio, our democracy, your organization and/or your community. Fellows will: ● Meet and interact with some of the most influential business, community, and elected officials in the state; ● Explore challenges and opportunities facing Ohio and its people; ● Network with other leaders who are interested in making Ohio the best place to live and work, and, ● Discover new inspiration. Leadership Ohio is a great cohort of people and a resource akin to a think-tank - it’s a great way to expand mindsets, aspirations, and goals. We understand the profound impact of friendships that bridge ideologies, geographies, sectors, and socioeconomic backgrounds and believe there is reward in working together both in the center and on the edges of systems.

There is a distinction between “leader” and “leadership” development. Aspects of human and social capital are central to this distinction in programming. D.V. Day (2000) asserts that leader development emphasizes human capital – the skills and abilities of individuals associated with formal leadership roles. Our program does not focus on traditional training for leadership skills, on leadership “styles,” or teach explicitly through traditional texts or instruction. Leadership development instead focuses on resources that are embedded in relationships – bearing more resemblance to social capital. Day notes, “The primary emphasis in leadership development is on building and using interpersonal competence.” Interpersonal competence has two distinct skill sets: (a) social awareness which includes empathy, political awareness, and service orientation and (b) social skills, which includes the ability to collaborate, manage conflict, and catalyze change.

Leadership Ohio is a non-partisan nonprofit that cultivates experiences that elevate leaders’ knowledge, perspective, and connections from a community to a state-wide level. Success in our mission creates a unifying movement of diverse, connected leaders who make Ohio the best state to live and work.

We’re Ohio’s first and most prestigious statewide leadership development program. We were founded in 1992 and graduated our first class (Class I) in 1994.