Leadership Fountain Inn opens doors for individuals with the desire and ability to shape the future of our vibrant community.

Through face-to-face meetings with city, county, and state leaders and on-site visits to local institutions, agencies, and organizations, participants explore the major issues and unique challenges facing the Fountain Inn area.

Leadership Fountain Inn is offered through the Fountain Inn Chamber Foundation for any interested individual who lives or works in Fountain Inn (chamber membership required).

Class sessions will be held on the 4th Wednesday of each month (with the exception of November & December), beginning with a class social and mandatory orientation session in August.

Class sessions generally last all day (9am-5pm).

Leadership Fountain Inn supports the development of corporate and community leaders by:

• Introducing participants to aspects of developing and maintaining a vibrant community
• Establishing dialogue with a wide range of community leaders
• Encouraging engagement in activities which contribute to the betterment of the community
• Providing employers with a source of knowledgeable and trained leaders who will have a positive impact on the business community

Participants are accepted into the program through an application process.

The selection committee looks for applicants who:

• Demonstrate a passion for their community as evidenced by active involvement
• Possess a record of achievement in community and civic activities, indicating a desire to lead
• Possess high standards of personal quality and integrity
• Can commit to the time required for the program
• If employed, must have the endorsement of their employers

• Application Deadline: Friday, July 17, 2026

• Tuition Due: Friday, August 14, 2026
• Monthly Class Sessions: Monthly sessions will be held on the fourth Wednesday of each month, beginning in August. Class sessions generally last all day (9am-5pm). The August session will serve as the Class Orientation and is strictly mandatory for all participants. Class members will be responsible for their own transportation on in-town days, but carpooling will be encouraged
whenever possible.

• Monthly Class Session Dates: 8/26, 9/23, 10/28, 11/24, 12/16, 1/27/27, 2/24, 3/17, 4/28, graduation TBD

• Graduation: A graduation reception will be held in May. The date will be shared with the class and community as soon as possible.

• Class Project: Time outside of the monthly class sessions will be required for completion of the group service project. More information about this project will be provided during Orientation.

Program Tuition - Tuition for Leadership Fountain Inn is $950 and membership with the Fountain Inn Chamber is required for an applicant to be considered. Participants will be invoiced for tuition once accepted into the program. Tuition will be due by
August 14, 2026, and is non-refundable once paid.

Scholarships – One scholarship covering a portion of tuition is available through the Fountain Inn Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Inc. Applicants should submit their program application before requesting a scholarship application.
Class Requirements - The Leadership Fountain Inn program requires participants to attend all monthly class sessions, attend a city or county council meeting, complete a ride-along with Fountain Inn fire or police, and complete a class service project.

Applicants should download and review the full packet of LFI information before applying.

www.fo

REQUEST FOR COMMUNITY PROJECT PROPOSALS

Leadership Fountain Inn is accepting proposals from nonprofit organizations in response to
this Request for Proposal in order to provide a line‐up of projects to be evaluated and chosen by our Inaugural Class 1 participants.

Proposals will be reviewed by the Leadership Fountain Inn class and the Planning Committee and selections will be made no later than September 2026. A single project will be selected and will be completed by May 2027. The project scope must lend itself to this timeline.

The mission of Leadership Fountain Inn is to educate and inspire a diverse group of current and emerging leaders to create collaborations and partnerships to impact the community needs of the Upstate of South Carolina.

In keeping with this mission, each annual class of Leadership Fountain Inn participants is tasked with implementing a group service project. This project will serve to increase participants’ knowledge of regional issues and positively impact the Fountain Inn community.

Through its group service project, Leadership Fountain Inn will affect change while enabling participants to go beyond simply connecting the dots of regional issues by connecting themselves to the organizations and becoming a part of lasting change.

Submission Guidelines, Requirements, & Timeline

The following submission guidelines & requirements apply to this Request for
Proposal:

1. Submissions shall be made by an established (in business for the past three years) 501(c)(3) organization serving the needs of Fountain Inn, South Carolina and surrounding
communities of Gray Court, Owings, Fork Shoals.

2. Proposals should include:

• 1. Description of your organization and its mission
• 2. Project summary, including scope and goal(s)
• 3. Project budget including all funding sources
• 4. Recorded video from organization, summarizing the above details. Videos will be shown to Class 1 during their Orientation.

3. The proposal submission deadline is 5:00pm on Friday, August 14, 2026.

4. Proposal files can be submitted online at:

Leadership Fountain Inn RFP

5. Leadership Fountain Inn participants will notify all submitting organizations of their final acceptance decisions no later than September 25, 2026.

Questions? Contact staff:

Fountain Inn Chamber of Commerce, Marnie Schwartz-Hanley

Phone: (864)862-2586 Email:meshanley@fountaininnchamber.org

ntaininnchamber.org/leadership-golden-strip