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“The Youth Leadership Brentwood program gave me confidence to pursue professional opportunities that focused on bettering communities and individuals. I reflect on my participation in the organization fondly and always enjoy meeting fellow alumni.” Meghan Umphres |
Objectives
- Broaden the participants’ understanding of leadership.
- Expose participants to leaders in the Brentwood area.
- Instill in each participant a love for and pride in Brentwood.
- Create, through the activities of YLB, a fun, exciting and life-lasting experience for each participant.
**Applications for the Class of 2026 will be available August, 2025
Supporting Sponsors
Brentwood Rotary Foundation
John P. Holt Brentwood Library
H.G.Hill Realty Company
TMA Transportation Group
Opening Retreat and History Day | October 21, 22, 2025
Students meet for a parent reception where everyone is introduced. After the reception students have dinner together and participate in leadership exercises with a facilitator, learning about their class members’ backgrounds, teambuilding and the importance of group collaboration. The following day participants engage in more teambuilding and learn about:
History
Brentwood is rich in history from prehistoric times thru the 20th century. As a part of our opening retreat, participants tour the city by bus and have a personally guided tour by a Brentwood historian. Some of the sites visited include the Boiling Spring Academy and Indian Mounds, Ravenswood Mansion, an actual Civil War roadbed and a haunted mansion.
Government Day | November 12, 2025
During Government Day students participate in personal guided tours of the Brentwood Fire and Police departments and visit the emergency dispatch center. Students meet with the City Manager for an overview of Brentwood government, compete in a Brentwood trivia game, and enjoy a luncheon discussion with members of the Brentwood City Commission and other government leaders.
Sponsored by H.G. Hill Realty Company
- Lunch Sponsor: Soy Bistro
- Shirt Sponsor: H.G. Hill Realty Company
Business Day | December 10, 2025
The Business and Financial Services Day is focused on helping future leaders cultivate their leadership skills by learning from successful business leaders in the community. The day’s program is designed to provide the students insight into a variety of businesses ranging from small entrepreneurs to large corporations, from services to manufacturing industries. Interactive sessions encourage learning about the diversity of opportunities and career paths in the business world, combined with an exposure to the drive, energy, and strong set of values that successful business leaders have in common. The day’s topics have typically included:
- Understanding etiquette and protocol in a formal business setting
- Establishing outstanding customer service and ethics as core values in a business
- Resume building workshop
- How to build a successful network
- Tips from hiring managers on what to prepare for when interviewing
- Getting started at personal finance and financial planning
- Visits to local businesses for a behind-the-scenes tour of their operations and critical factors that drive its success.
Sponsored by LBMC
- Breakfast Sponsors: Vicki Sandford (’13) and Debbie Case (’17)
- Lunch Sponsor: Parks I Compass Realty: Hagan Stone (’09)
Quality of Life and Visionary Day | January 14, 2026
During the morning Quality of Life session students visit and hear from local non-profits to see community service at work. In the afternoon, the Visionary session aims to provide students the opportunity to learn from industry leaders about the future of their field, witness how technology is transforming industries, and explore the potential roles emerging from this transforming.
Sponsored by Gresham Smith and Potentia
- Lunch Sponsors: Nissan North America
- Breakfast Sponsor: Northwestern Mutual: David Smallwood (’22)
Closing Retreat/Graduation | February 4, 2026
The closing retreat opens with class evaluations of all program days to help improve upon the program year to year. The students are then broken into class project teams and they decide on what community service project they will develop during the afternoon, to be presented to parents and friends during the graduation ceremony.
- Lunch Sponsor: Insbank