VBA Debuts New Leadership Development Opportunity

The Virginia Bar Association is providing members of its Young Lawyers Division a unique new leadership development opportunity. Designed to make today’s Young Lawyers the leaders of tomorrow, the VBA Leadership Academy will give participants the tools to hone their own management styles and to build personal growth plans for the future.

“The VBA Leadership Academy gives employers an affordable, convenient option to support the lawyers that will lead their organizations in the future,” said VBA President-Elect Kimberlee Harris Ramsey. “Cultivating excellence is central to the VBA mission, and developing leadership in young lawyers is the best investment we can make in our profession.”

The VBA Leadership Academy is set for Jan. 23 in Williamsburg, just ahead of the VBA’s 135th Annual Meeting. The VBA has made a significant financial investment in the Academy to keep tuition for the day-long program at only $299 per registrant.

Led by the training professionals from Richmond-based Burton-Fuller Management, the course will include personalized content based on registrants’ own Birkman Method leadership style assessments, along with reflective and interactive exercises. During the program, each registrant will complete a personal growth plan to help build on course concepts after they return to work.

“Offering this high-quality individualized training in a one-day course with an affordable price tag makes it easy for young lawyers to attend, and easy for managers to back,” said VBA Young Lawyers Division Chair Ann Petros. “There’s really not another program like this in the marketplace today.”

Ramsey and Petros led the initiative to add the VBA Leadership Academy to the association’s annual calendar, worked with program facilitators to shape the program and encouraged the VBA Board of Governors to provide program funding as a service to the legal community.

The Virginia Bar Association is the Commonwealth’s first and most diverse voluntary bar association, working to cultivate excellence throughout Virginia’s legal system.

Registration for the VBA Leadership Academy Class of 2025 is open now through Nov. 8. For more information and registration details, please visit www.vba.org/academy.