E x p a n d  your  IMPACT!

The Flagship Program is the core Leadership Anne Arundel program designed to inspire and develop professional, personal and community leadership. 

Flagship includes an intense curriculum of civic information and leadership skills development. Each year approximately 45-50 individuals are selected for this comprehensive, hands-on, multi-disciplinary study of Anne Arundel County. The program then begins in September and graduates in June, meeting monthly throughout the course. The class is composed of a cross-section of the Anne Arundel County community, representing our ethnically, socially, economically, and geographically diverse population.

WHY INVEST IN FLAGSHIP?

Your community in 360-Degrees: Flagship is an experience like no other. Over a ten month period class participants build lifelong relationships with community stakeholders and get a behind the scenes look at core components of our community. Expedite relationship building and fast-track your understanding of how things work in your backyard. Join the more than 1600 LAA graduates who remark “I thought I knew Anne Arundel County until I went through Flagship!”

Organizations invest in the Flagship Program because

• Participants leverage their experiences, connections, and personal development to help their organizations think, operate, and be led at higher levels.
• Leadership skills developed and improved by our training help the leaders understand personal bias preferences and approaches to improve decision making for organizations they represent.
• Flagship participation delivers highly valued corporate social responsibility engagement for top employees.
• Flagship participation demonstrates a corporate investment in the community.

Individuals invest in the Flagship Program

• To expand their personal and professional networks
• To better understand opportunities to engage in and to increase their impact on their local community
• Because the Flagship program has a rich legacy of providing individuals with an experience filled with diverse perspectives, exploring complex and tough issues in leadership, and developing action-oriented solutions.

The Community invests in the Flagship Program because

• Participants connect with a resourceful network so that they may become more powerful advocates, volunteers, and leaders in shaping Anne Arundel County. 

The ten-month program kicks off in September with a mandatory two-day opening retreat.  Following the retreat, participants meet for one full day each month.  Throughout the program, participants gain an understanding of what constitutes leadership, as well as, an introduction to the infrastructure, natural resources, and current political issues of Anne Arundel County.

To build community knowledge, participants are introduced to critical regional issues, meet and discuss issues with leaders from the public, private and non-profit sectors, and identify areas of community need and methods required to succeed as community leaders.

The program is based on a model that incorporates three key domains for developing community leaders:  building community knowledge, developing leadership skills, and gaining a philosophical understanding of community trusteeship.

Sessions focus on the following areas:

Government • Economic Development & Bus Tour • Cultural Arts • Education
Health & Human Services • Law & Public Safety • Environment • Agriculture/South County

The program provides participants with the opportunity to build upon and practice their leadership skills.  They include identifying issues, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, modeling the way, fostering collaboration, holding values and encouraging the heart.  Woven throughout the program are the philosophical concepts of community trusteeship that value a deep commitment to the community by envisioning a preferred future, empowering others to act, and acting on behalf of the common good for all concerned.

The goal of group projects is to identify a community problem, and design and implement an action plan to help resolve the problem.  Through the project teams, participants practice their new leadership skills while providing a valuable community service.

A year-end one-day retreat is held in June to acknowledge and celebrate the class’s achievements.  Many graduates go on to use their leadership skills to serve the community as founders of social programs, board members of non-profit organizations, or elected officials.

Tuition

Tuition for the 2025-2026 LAA Flagship Program is $4,450. The tuition covers all program costs, including a ticket for the graduation event in June. There is an application fee of $125 due with each application.

A limited amount of need-based tuition assistance is available primarily to non-profits, individuals and small business owners. Payment plans are also available. LAA is committed to helping candidates with a sincere desire to positively impact Anne Arundel County get the financial support they need to participate. A tuition assistance request must be submitted with the application, along with the application fee. All requests for tuition assistance must be received by the deadline. Click here for the Tuition Assistance application.

Flagship Applications are accepted from January through March each year.

2025 – 2026 Flagship Program Calendar

(Venues Rotate around the county)

September 11 & 12, 2025 – Opening Retreat* 
October 9, 2025 – Government Day
November 13, 2025 – Economic Development Day
December 11, 2025 – Cultural Arts Day
January 8, 2026 – Education Day
February 12, 2026 – Health & Human Services Day
March 12, 2026 – Law & Public Safety Day
April 9, 2026 – Environment Day
May 14, 2026 – Agriculture/South County Day
June 11, 2026 – Closing Retreat

TBD, Week of June 22, 2026 from 5:30 – 8:00pm: Tribute to Community Leadership & Graduation Ceremony 

*Please Note: Attendance at both days of the Opening Retreat is mandatory. Not more than two days of absence during the course of the year will be accepted for graduation. 

Applications for the 2027 Flagship Program:
Applications will be available starting January 2026 and accepted through March 15, 2026.

*Please note: The dates and times listed above reflect the 2026 Flagship Class. Tuition is based on the 2026.

Typically, Flagship program sessions are held on the second Tuesday of each month, September through June, with a two-day Opening Retreat in September.