Council President Alexander selected to Leadership Birmingham Class of 2023
Birmingham City Council President Wardine Alexander has been selected to the Leadership Birmingham Class of 2023.
Each year, a group of 50 leaders from various backgrounds are brought together to exchange ideas, collaborate and find solutions to issues that need to be addressed in our communities.
“Leadership Birmingham programs are designed by past graduates and experts to explore our community’s critical issues in education, government, health care, social services, diversity, criminal justice, economic development and quality of life,” the organization’s mission statement reads. “The program objective is to present to the participants a series of issue-oriented forums based on the belief that knowledge is a key element and prime motivator of leadership. They are further designed to elicit differing points of view regarding these issues.”
Council President Alexander has dedicated her life to improving her community through public service. “It is an honor to be selected for the 2023 Leadership Birmingham class alongside so many amazing individuals who are working to improve the quality of life in our city,” Alexander said. “I look forward to working with all of them over the next year and finding ways we can utilize Birmingham’s full potential to take our city and region to the next level.”
Since its inception, there have been over 1,500 graduates from the Leadership Birmingham program. President Alexander said one of her goals has been to get more young people involved in our local government processes.
“For me, I think there needs to be a lot more done to educate and inform younger people about how local government works and the multitude of ways they can get involved,” Alexander said. “Not just on a local level, but if you zoom out and look at it from a national perspective, there definitely needs to be an increased focus on teaching our younger generation about the different roles of government. I think by having elected officials engage with students and be a positive influence in their lives, we can make a big impact. I’m so encouraged by this new generation who are so hungry to make a difference and I can’t wait to see what barriers will be broken next.”
This past year, President Alexander was officially awarded the $75,000 E Pluribus Unum (UNUM) Fellows Grant. She utilized those funds towards creating a workforce development pipeline between Lawson State Community College (LSCC) and Buffalo Rock that will provide specialized training to fill jobs in the area. Moving forward, she would like to focus on creating and strengthening more career pipeline opportunities for residents in her district.
“This workforce development pipeline will help ensure that our residents are ready to fill local jobs through a certified training program for these positions with Buffalo Rock,” Alexander continued. “This is something that can bring about equity and empower our community and will be something I’d like to discuss and explore more with my fellow Leadership Birmingham classmates.”
