FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its inaugural event for the Next Level Leader program on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

The chamber has hosted a leadership program called Leadership Fairfield for the past nine years, and this new program represents the next step for community members who want to improve their workplace skills. Fairfield’s Next Level Leader program has 11 members, all of whom are graduates of Leadership Fairfield.

Next Level Leader will meet for a full day once a month for eight months. Tuesday’s inaugural meeting was dedicated to learning about nonprofits, so Fairfield Area Chamber Director Mendy McAdams invited 15 local nonprofits to the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center’s expo hall to meet the Next Level Leader class.

Dr. Pat Jones of Fairfield Dental Clinic said he enjoyed his experience in Leadership Fairfield and wanted to continue building connections in the community while improving his leadership skills through Next Level Leader. Lasandra Smith, who has been Agri-Industrial Plastics’ customer service manager for 19 years, said she just graduated from Leadership Fairfield in the spring, and thought that it provided her with great networking opportunities.

“I want to contribute more to the community and set an example for my kids,” Smith said about her decision to enroll in Next Level Leader.

Kayla Stanley, product manager at AERON Lifestyle Technology, graduated from Leadership Fairfield in 2023.

“I learned a lot in the first leadership class, and I grew a lot professionally and personally,” she said. “I also felt that I could do a lot more by building leadership skills at work.”

Fairfield Arts & Convention Center Executive Director Lindsay Bauer was one of the nonprofit representatives invited to the class, and she said it’s great to meet so many up-and-coming leaders in the community.

“The more we get to know each other, the easier it is to collaborate,” she said.

McAdams said that Next Level Leader is basically “Leadership Fairfield 2.0,” but with a special focus on building the skillsets of the individual members.

“The first level is more about learning from other leaders and getting behind-the-scenes tours, and getting to know the community itself,” McAdams said. “This [Next Level Leader] is more about personal growth and personal leadership.”

Each month’s class will be about a different topic. During Tuesday’s class on nonprofits, the group learned how to use the service GuideStar, which is a database of nonprofit charities.

“It’s a great way to assess if a local nonprofit is active and what it’s all about,” McAdams said.

McAdams said nonprofits are so important to the town, and volunteers are the “lifeblood” of nonprofits. That’s why she feels strongly about educating the public about opportunities to serve.

“We’ve heard from a lot of our nonprofit members about how their numbers are dropping, and how it’s harder to find people to step up,” she said. “We want to be able to fill that void by informing the community about all the things available.”