Kellie Jackson Puts Her Effort Where Her Heart Is: With the NAA Leadership Lyceum

After completing an adventurous year as president of the Florida Apartment Association, for her next trick Kellie Jackson, CAM, CPM, Regional Vice President with Milestone Management, agreed to serve as national chair of the NAA Leadership Lyceum. A graduate of the program in 2005, Kellie has always raved about the program’s value in boosting her knowledge of association affairs and processes, and enhancing leadership skills.

The Lyceum "takes leaders and gives them the forum and foundation for building trust within a peer group and the tools to become future leaders of NAA," Kellie told Units magazine. "It's not about taking someone and making them a leader — it's about fine-tuning the skills and vision that are already in place.

"At every Lyceum event and education session, you walk in the door and throw your ego completely out the window and just learn from one another," she continued. "I feel comfortable enough to pick up the phone and call a fellow graduate when I have a problem because there is a real sense of camaraderie that we've all established ... The Lyceum is like a small fraternity — a family."

Kellie was so enthusiastic about her experience that she went on to chair the Lyceum Committee in 2011 and 2012. Working with her characteristic passion and love of fun, she has worked this year to increase awareness about the Lyceum within the membership base. She notes that too many members still don’t really know what it is or what benefits it will provide.

Lynn Miller, staff liaison for NAA’s Leadership Lyceum Committee, said, "Kellie has been involved with the NAA Lyceum program since 2005. During her current two-year stewardship as Lyceum chair, she has made it her mission to raise the visibility of the program nationally. This has been accomplished through her enthusiastic leadership and manifested in our first sponsored Capitol Conference networking event, a new logo and tagline."

Kellie has also been very supportive of the FAA Lyceum program, which has been very successful in drawing new candidates every year. With a new generation of leaders coming to the forefront at the local, state and national level, the need for advanced association education through the Lyceum program remains ever present.

John H. Mitchell, executive director, Apartment Association of Tarrant County, Texas, is one of the founders of the Lyceum program. He said of Kellie: "[She] provides the spark, the spirit that makes the Lyceum one of NAA’s premier initiatives. Her amazing energy and unbridled enthusiasm encourages us to excel — she's the leader of multihousing's future leaders."