1. LEADERSHIP SELMA
Involved citizens from Leadership Selma
JUNE 26, 2013 7:00 AM • BY STEPHANIE LOPEZ SPECIAL
TO THE SELMA ENTERPRISE
Learning about a city is just one aspect of
being an involved citizen, and for 18 years,
Leadership Selma has been preparing
community members to do just that — to
become involved and make a difference in their
communities. Roseann Galvan, an
administrative analyst for the city of Selma, has
been part of Leadership Selma since it began
in the mid­1990s. She currently staffs the
program and was part of the committee that put together the class curriculum.
“In 18 years we’ve done a lot of refinement to the program and I think it works very well now,
it’s been a good program,” said Galvan.
“We have all ages, younger people, retired people. It’s a gamut. There is really no set age
group that participates, there’s a variety and that makes it fun for the participants,” Galvan
said. “And it’s neat because we have people from different disciplines, so it’s kind of neat to
have them all interact, and they all get to know each other and there’s friendships that have
come about.”
The program was established by the city of Selma Ambassadors who determined that there
was a need in the community for a program that would educate and train leaders and
community residents about the different aspects of the city, Galvan said.
The curriculum features topics on city government, education, health services, criminal
justice, business services and agriculture. Galvan added that the program starts on the third
Wednesday of every month and runs September through May of each year. Class members
are able to get a good grasp of the topics because enrollment is capped at 12.
“It’s a little bit of everything, that’s included, to get a good cross­section of the community,”
Galvan said.
“I’ve had different people say ‘I’ve lived in Selma all my life and I didn’t know how much I
didn’t know about Selma,’” Galvan said. “If you say, you work in education or you’re involved
in health care, you tend to be focused in that arena and you don’t know about anything else
in the community. So this gives them that opportunity to get a broad­based knowledge of the
community and learn a little bit more about it.”
Galvan added that the program does have a $175 fee, but notes that there are scholarships
to help offset the costs. She added that this fee, is not collected for profit, but to cover the
cost of materials, meals and transportation to tour sites.

2. “We try to keep it affordable so if a resident wanted to attend they would have that
opportunity,” Galvan said. She added that other cities, like Fresno, have similar programs
that are much more expensive.
Galvan said that many of the people who participate get more involved in their communities.
Some of the participants include city council members from Selma and Fowler, as well as
journalists, and residents of other cities like Parlier. Galvan said many of the Parlier
participants worked in Selma, and after getting involved in Leadership Selma they got active
on some of Parlier’s commissions.
Other people who have participated, throughout the years, are also more active in nonprofits
and churches, Galvan said.
“The mayor, he always says ‘you’ve gone to this class now, hopefully you can use it to
participate in the community,’” Galvan said. “And that’s the whole intent to give them
information so that they can hopefully get more involved in the community that they are
either living or working in.”
Galvan added that near the end of the program, participants typically get together to
determine what their class project will be. She said the class usually makes the decision
after going through the program and seeing what type of things appeal to them and the
need in the community. The class project can be anything from donating to a cause they
think is important to actually going out and planting trees, Galvan said, noting that the
decision was entirely up to the class.
Scott Robertson, a Selma City Council member who participated in program, said he did so
after being encouraged by past graduates. He added that the program better equipped him
to serve his community by educating him on how the concentric spheres of government,
business and the community overlap.
Robertson said his class purchased and donated a cooler for the Selma Animal Shelter. He
added that the Selma City Council, which he joined in November 2012, recently passed a
measure to move the animal shelter closer to town, noting that this was real progress for the
city.
“I would recommend the program to others who would like to learn more about how their city
works. It is also a great experience for those who wish to serve their city in some capacity
as a volunteer or in an elected office,” Robertson said.
Local businesswoman Rose Robertson, Scott’s wife, also participated in the program and
said she did so because she wanted to learn more about the city. She ended up getting
more than what she expected.
“The program better equipped me to serve my community by giving me the gift of a life­long
friendship,” Robertson said. “I met someone in leadership that will be very special in my
heart. People have heard the saying ‘I met my sister from another mother,’ I know that
happened for a reason and it will enable me to serve my community even better.”