Unleashing Potential: David Fike on Leadership Maryland

Rich Bennett 0:00
I am here today. I have David 

David Fike 0:01
You. 

Rich Bennett 0:02
Falk, who is and correct me if I'm wrong, the executive director. 

David Fike 0:06
President and CEO. 

Rich Bennett 0:07
O president and ceo of leadership Maryland. And we're going to find out a lot about leadership maryland and the programs they have to offer because when who's mq. 

David Fike 0:20
It was, Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 0:21
Contacted me. I had no idea about leadership. Maryland. I looked into his eye. Wow. Everybody. Well, I don't want to see just everybody in Maryland. Everybody in general 

David Fike 0:32
Who 

Rich Bennett 0:32
needs 

David Fike 0:32
needs 

Rich Bennett 0:32
to 

David Fike 0:32
to 

Rich Bennett 0:32
know 

David Fike 0:33
know about this 

Rich Bennett 0:33
because. 

David Fike 0:33
because 

Rich Bennett 0:34
Would 

David Fike 0:34
what 

Rich Bennett 0:34
you. 

David Fike 0:34
you guys are offering 

Rich Bennett 0:36
If other 

David Fike 0:36
other. 

Rich Bennett 0:36
states aren't offering it, they should be. 

David Fike 0:40
And we're. 

Rich Bennett 0:40
We're going to find out about that because they have some excellent programs. But before we find out about the programs, first 

David Fike 0:47
First of 

Rich Bennett 0:47
of all, 

David Fike 0:47
all, 

Rich Bennett 0:47
how's 

David Fike 0:47
how's 

Rich Bennett 0:47
it 

David Fike 0:47
it 

Rich Bennett 0:47
going 

David Fike 0:47
going? 

Rich Bennett 0:47
to. 

David Fike 0:48
It's going great. It's great 

Rich Bennett 0:50
David 

David Fike 0:50
to. 

Rich Bennett 0:50
was about to ring my night because he had a problem getting here. But everybody does. Sometimes I get lost. 

David Fike 0:57
We found it. 

Rich Bennett 0:59
So leadership. Maryland explained everybody exactly what it is. 

David Fike 1:04
Okay, So we were born as an organization 31 years ago as a offshoot from the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. Several individuals who were in the Chamber of Commerce and not business leaders from around the state saw that there were leadership programs very a community or county or region oriented within the state, but nothing that really served the entire state. You know, they gave them an individual, a kind of that bigger state view of issues and topics that were affecting the state. And also just to to see the entire part of the state. And so they came together to create leadership. Maryland. A few months later, after that, they formed their own 501c3 and officially parted ways, you know, and separated from the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. We still are great partners with them. We still interact with the Maryland Chamber of Commerce a lot, but we are two separate legal entities. And over the years, we put together a different cohort of individuals who or class 

Rich Bennett 2:09
Right. 

David Fike 2:09
that comes through of business leaders from around the state. And the business leaders for this particular program tend to be C-suite individuals, people who are CEOs, CFOs, CEOs, executive directors of nonprofits, high ranking government officials, whether elected or appointed, or just even in the government in some way, shape or form at a high level. We really cater to kind of that kind of individual or people. They even own their own business in the private sector as well. We cater to that kind of person across the state. And so over the years we have had a different cohort every single year or different class every single year. At the beginning, we had about 40 people in the class and then some were after about five or six years, we moved it up to 52 people. And ever since then, we have 52 different leaders in our program every single year since then. And one of the things we really pride ourselves on with the program is to try to build the most diverse class we possibly can build, because what we found is the more diverse we make it, the better the experience is for the individuals in the class itself. And so diversity for us means a lot of different things. It's, you know, different industries, different parts of the state, different ages, different skin color, different backgrounds, you know, and that knowledge set is different. And so when we get these individuals together into, you know, the sessions that we have, you know, it's really interesting to hear that diverse opinion and thought process. 

Rich Bennett 3:37
Oscar seekers. With that, you're getting so many different ideas in everything from you, all these different people. 

David Fike 3:44
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 3:45
Something from somebody that has their own small. 

David Fike 3:48
Coffee shop. 

Rich Bennett 3:49
Maybe. 

David Fike 3:49
Maybe doing some. 

Rich Bennett 3:50
Something that would work for a big corporation that has thousands of employees. You never know. 

David Fike 3:56
You're surprised when you hear the conversations between that difference of business. They have the same problems. It's just different scale, really. And truthfully, you know, it's the same stuff. You know, they're just dealing with different size and mass. And so during the year, we start up actually, this year's class is going to start up next week. We have an orientation in Ocean City, and then once a month we travel them around to different parts of the state. The month after that will be in southern Maryland, all the way down to Solomon's Island area. 

Rich Bennett 4:26
Wow. 

David Fike 4:27
The month after that. We're in Baltimore City. The month after that, we're in western Maryland and so on and so forth. As we travel around the state. And we do that on purpose, you know, we the two objectives really of this program are, one, to travel the leaders around the state, 

Rich Bennett 4:41
Right. 

David Fike 4:41
because you'd be surprised how many people know that there is a western Maryland or an Eastern shore or a southern Maryland, but have absolutely no idea what they're like or have never been there. You know, 

Rich Bennett 4:52
Hal David. You get that with people that live in their own counties 

David Fike 4:54
and it's 

Rich Bennett 4:55
that don't 

David Fike 4:55
a. 

Rich Bennett 4:55
realize. 

David Fike 4:56
Outside. Outside. 

Rich Bennett 4:56
I'd like. Holy. 

David Fike 4:58
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 4:59
That's a great idea. 

David Fike 5:00
And so when we're there, then when we're in that particular area, we usually have a or we always have a topic that we focus on. So when we're in southern Maryland, we're focused completely on education. And so during that segment, we're showing them parts of the area to give them a sense of the area, but we're also giving them some knowledge, education about education in the state of Maryland. 

Rich Bennett 5:24
Right. 

David Fike 5:25
And so we'll bring in some of the top leaders related to the topic of education to be on a panel discussion usually, or we'll go to locations that are education related. So we actually go to a a school that's really doing some really innovative, innovative stuff in Saint Mary's County. And we can see some of the things they're doing firsthand. We bring in speakers and panelists to actually have a conversation, you know, with the class 

Rich Bennett 5:50
Right. 

David Fike 5:50
about the topic. And what we're trying to do is get dialogue. You know, we're trying to get them to talk, you know, and ask questions and be inquisitive about it. And so we do that for a two day period where they we come in on a Wednesday, we leave on Friday. We kind of take them all around that area and show them the different topics and and locations and then. 

Rich Bennett 6:09
Have a chance to actually visit that area. 

David Fike 6:10
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so then the next month we go to a different place. Same thing, different topic, different speakers, all that kind of stuff. And so our, our net goal on this with this particular program is not to teach them how to be leaders. They they're already at the, 

Rich Bennett 6:26
Right? 

David Fike 6:26
you know, upper end and they've probably been through a hundred different leadership programs or, you know, conferences or whatever. We're not there really to teach, you know, leadership. What we're really trying to do is to expose them to the state and show them the different parts of the state and then show them the biggest issues that are affecting the state. And then our our hope at the end of the year is they saw something during the year that got them so excited that they want to go out and do something about it and effect positive change in the state in some way, shape or form. 

Rich Bennett 6:56
I love the. 

David Fike 6:56
Yeah. And so, you know, you get alumni that leave and they go start nonprofits to try to help the cause. Some cause they'll go join boards of nonprofits. They'll start interacting with their local political leaders to try to effect, you know, some kind of legislative change on a variety of things. So you have ah, ah, alumni. There's just tons of those individuals who have really done that. 

Rich Bennett 7:21
Right. 

David Fike 7:22
And that's the exciting part. We you know, we we want them to go out and effect positive change in some way in the state and to help our state be it is already one of the greatest states in the country. We want it to even be better, you know, at the end of the day, eventually, 

Rich Bennett 7:36
That's great, 

David Fike 7:37
because. 

Rich Bennett 7:37
because when you get the leaders from businesses and nonprofits involved, they're the ones that people listen to, you know, because they're out in the community 

David Fike 7:47
Community all 

Rich Bennett 7:48
all the 

David Fike 7:48
the time. 

Rich Bennett 7:48
time. 

David Fike 7:49
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 7:49
Most of them just in their local community. But I love the fact that here. 

David Fike 7:53
Here they are traveling. 

Rich Bennett 7:54
In around the. 

David Fike 7:55
So. 

Rich Bennett 7:55
So something to say that. Is being done in St Mary's County or something that needs to be done, may be getting done in, say, Harford County. 

David Fike 8:07
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:08
Well, you can tell them this is what you need. 

David Fike 8:11
Need to do 

Rich Bennett 8:12
Not only that, you might see it because, I mean, you see a lot 

David Fike 8:15
lot 

Rich Bennett 8:15
of nonprofits 

David Fike 8:16
profits. 

Rich Bennett 8:16
and even businesses where they're focused strictly on. 

David Fike 8:19
Our area. 

Rich Bennett 8:21
And some of them, I don't know why they seem like they're afraid to expand. 

David Fike 8:26
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:28
But expansion is good. I mean, why not expand? 

David Fike 8:32
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:32
All you're doing is helping other 

David Fike 8:35
People. 

Rich Bennett 8:35
people elsewhere. You know, it doesn't mean that you have to be at that place all the time. That's why you have managers. 

David Fike 8:43
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:44
Or other. That is great. I love that. It almost sounds like some. 

David Fike 8:48
So we have here. 

Rich Bennett 8:49
Hard for candy, which is the. 

David Fike 8:50
The Harvard leadership. 

Rich Bennett 8:51
The academy. 

David Fike 8:52
It's very similar to that. There are 

Rich Bennett 8:54
Okay. 

David Fike 8:54
so we are the statewide program. 

Rich Bennett 8:55
Okay. 

David Fike 8:56
And you had asked earlier, are other states doing this? There are, I believe, 22 other states around the United States who have a statewide program very 

Rich Bennett 9:02
Okay. 

David Fike 9:03
similar to ours and run them in various fashion, similar to ours. But, you know, there's different components to it. And then within Maryland, there are county wide leadership programs and also regional programs. So when you get over to the Eastern Shore, there's not necessarily countywide. It's the whole entire shore is kind of one big group. But those those programs exist, you know, in the state as well. And we interact. They're separate entities from us, but we interact with them, you know, on a fairly regular basis. 

Rich Bennett 9:32
Is important to 

David Fike 9:33
And we tend to see people that go through the county program or the regional program and then elevate up and come into our program the next year or 

Rich Bennett 9:40
write. 

David Fike 9:40
a couple of years after that, which is great to say, you know, somebody wants to learn more about their own hometown or their own area, and then they want to learn the big picture of the state. And that's kind of what we we try to offer. 

Rich Bennett 9:50
Only 22 states. 

David Fike 9:53
That I know of. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:55
Listen, in other states, if you don't have one, get off your tail. You. 

David Fike 9:59
I would agree. I would agree. And happy to help out with that, too. 

Rich Bennett 10:03
With. So before you actually became. How long have you been with leadership, Marilyn now? 

David Fike 10:08
Just a little over two years. 

Rich Bennett 10:09
That's it. 

David Fike 10:10
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 10:10
So what were you doing? If you don't mind me asking, What were you doing before 

David Fike 10:12
Not 

Rich Bennett 10:13
that? 

David Fike 10:13
at all, no. So immediately prior to this, and you're going to hear the three things I've done this job, the last two jobs, and you're going to say, how does this all tie together? Because they don't. 

Rich Bennett 10:23
Okay. 

David Fike 10:24
But I'll give you something that does tie them all together. So immediately prior to this, I ran a global beauty company. Yeah. Which had absolutely nothing to do with, you know, running a nonprofit, a statewide nonprofit, you know, focused on leadership. I did that for a few years kind of through the pandemic time 

Rich Bennett 10:41
Okay. 

David Fike 10:42
and exciting time. It was really interesting to do the import export game and and understand manufacturing. And, you know, from a for a from a beauty perspective, all that kind of stuff. And then prior to that, for most of my career, probably 26 years, I was in the media industry. I ran a for the last decade prior to moving into the beauty sector. I ran a five stage media company that had. It was primarily newspapers, magazines and a digital presence, a digital agency that we had. Yeah. And so I did that for 25 years and the last decade of it, I ran that company. There was newspapers and magazines in this area, as a matter of fact, in the this or the. 

Rich Bennett 11:31
25 years. 

David Fike 11:32
Yeah. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:34
You seen how that changed? 

David Fike 11:37
Dramatically here. That industry changed a lot. And 

Rich Bennett 11:40
Wow. 

David Fike 11:40
I'm it's it's still in my blood you know that 

Rich Bennett 11:44
Yeah. 

David Fike 11:44
that journalism that I even I came from the kind of the marketing side of it to the sales side of it. But I, you know, I, I always still love that piece of it so. So you can see they're three completely different industries, but one thing that I did find through that process is running an organization at the top level. 

Rich Bennett 12:03
Mm. 

David Fike 12:04
There's not much difference, no matter what the industry is, you know, whether it's a for profit entity or a publicly held company or a nonprofit in different sectors. Leadership is still leadership. 

Rich Bennett 12:16
Yes. 

David Fike 12:17
You know, at the end of the day. And the principles are how you guide and manage an organization are still the same. 

Rich Bennett 12:23
Mhm. 

David Fike 12:23
All you have to really learn are the products and kind of the, you know, the process for that particular industry. And once you get that, you can run the organization typically the same way in every single instance. So it was an exciting learning curve for me through that transition through my life to see that piece. But. 

Rich Bennett 12:40
How did you come about leadership, Marilyn, though? Or did you go through one of the programs? 

David Fike 12:44
I did. Yeah. So good lead in. So I was in the class of 2016 while I was still in the media space 

Rich Bennett 12:51
Okay. 

David Fike 12:51
and went through the program, thoroughly enjoyed it, just had a great time and really, you know, my aha kind of takeaway from going through the program because I think everybody has something that they get from it 

Rich Bennett 13:04
Mm hmm. 

David Fike 13:04
in some way, shape or form. And mine was, you know, there's other things in this world outside of my work and the media industry and that I'm interested in, you know, and I and I got kind of a couple sparks, you know, during the year 

Rich Bennett 13:17
hmm. 

David Fike 13:18
when I saw a couple of things, I thought, you know, I'm actually interested in learning more about this or I want to do more you to try to help this in some way, shape or form. And so, you know, I really made kind of the internal commitment that sometime of the next couple of years I'm going to transition, you know, and I'm 

Rich Bennett 13:32
Yeah. 

David Fike 13:32
going to do something different to try to, you know, downsize my workload and give me the opportunity to do more moving forward. And so the transition into the beauty industry kind of happened, kind of friend of a friend kind of thing. And it was a great experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And and then this job came open as the my predecessor was retiring and I was on the board of directors at that time 

Rich Bennett 14:00
Okay. 

David Fike 14:00
for the organization. And I thought, you know, this I got so much out of it 

Rich Bennett 14:04
Mm hmm. 

David Fike 14:05
that I really want to go in there and be a part of this, you know, from the inside. And so I just applied and ended up getting the role. As exciting. 

Rich Bennett 14:16
That's awesome. One of the things I would love for you to explain this to people, because this has been a pet peeve of mine and even Wendy, who I mentioned earlier, when it comes to the nonprofit world. 

David Fike 14:28
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 14:29
For some reason, people get upset if a somebody on the staff of non-profits get paid. 

David Fike 14:39
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 14:40
Nonprofits are still a business. 

David Fike 14:41
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 14:42
No matter what. 

David Fike 14:43
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 14:44
So can you explain to everybody I know we're going off a little bit here, but I just coming from you because here you are. You're two. 

David Fike 14:52
President. 

Rich Bennett 14:52
CEO of a non-profit. Come in from the corporate world. Explain everybody. Why? Well, why would. 

David Fike 15:02
You. 

Rich Bennett 15:02
You have. They have to you have to have a paid staff. 

David Fike 15:05
You have to have a paid staff, you know, especially as you get larger. It's impossible to not have that. You know, you can only ride on volunteers for so long, you know, an organization. And, you know, I think when it's a smaller sized nonprofit, you can get away with that. But once you get to a certain point from your income standpoint, you really need to start branching out and have people that are full, full time commitment to, you know, the cause or the effort. And so, you know, I think if you look at a lot of nonprofits and this is by no means to 

slam on nonprofits in the way they're run, but, you know, they many people that are in the nonprofit sector that have been there their entire career, um, you know, they run a nonprofit, like a nonprofit, you know. 

Rich Bennett 15:50
Yeah. 

David Fike 15:51
But you kind of touched on it, me coming from kind of a business, you know, private sector kind of environment to come in and look at it from that. That lens. 

Rich Bennett 16:00
Mm. 

David Fike 16:00
In the nonprofit area, I think offers a different perspective, you know, and it gives us a different look, you know, to the organization compared to somebody that's always been in the nonprofit sector and thinks kind of in that realm, there's nothing wrong with it. Either way. I'm 

Rich Bennett 16:15
Right. 

David Fike 16:16
a proponent either way, but I think we just give it a different lens, you know? And so our team that we have, we have a couple of people that are on staff full time and one part time person. All of us came from the private sector in some way, shape or form of our 

Rich Bennett 16:29
Really? 

David Fike 16:29
careers. Yeah, and all of us kind of have that lens. And so 

Rich Bennett 16:33
Mm 

David Fike 16:33
I 

Rich Bennett 16:33
hmm. 

David Fike 16:33
think it offers, you know, that kind of different perspective, you know, to the organization. And it's really allowed us to grow and expand over the last couple of years to have almost record record number of members in our organization. Just unbelievable application. The number of applications and record number of applications come in last year for our program for both of our programs. And so we're just seeing some tremendous growth with the organization right now. And I kind of lend a little of that to kind of our bringing in that private sector element 

Rich Bennett 17:08
Right. 

David Fike 17:09
into the nonprofit piece. But at the end of the day, I have a lot to learn on the nonprofit side, too. So I learn a lot from my nonprofit comrades 

Rich Bennett 17:19
Which goes back to the programs 

David Fike 17:20
because 

Rich Bennett 17:20
because you 

David Fike 17:21
you. 

Rich Bennett 17:21
have, you know, the businesses in there and you have the nonprofits. 

David Fike 17:25
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 17:26
I know some people say, well, you just said a nonprofit is a business. Yes, but a business cannot be a nonprofit where it does say that. Right. 

David Fike 17:37
Anyway, 

Rich Bennett 17:37
Anyways, You all know what I mean. But I 

David Fike 17:39
I 

Rich Bennett 17:40
think 

David Fike 17:40
think 

Rich Bennett 17:40
this 

David Fike 17:40
this. 

Rich Bennett 17:40
way to a lot of your nonprofits are learning. 

David Fike 17:44
Learning from the. 

Rich Bennett 17:45
Years, everything, and vice versa. 

David Fike 17:47
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's. You can never stop learning I think. You know, And that's, you know you got to continue to keep learning and, and just that last piece, what I just said, you know, I know a lot of CEOs and presidents of nonprofits and I learn a lot from them, quite frankly. They, you know, they give me insight on things that I don't know about the nonprofit sector, quite frankly. And so it's been that's been really encouraging and helpful for me. And I'm hoping some of the stuff that I we're doing with this organization from our private sector kind of background, kind of imparting that into the nonprofit piece, you know, is rubbed off onto some of the people that I interact with that run, you know, other nonprofits, but. 

Rich Bennett 18:28
I worked in, and I'm still in the nonprofit world. 

David Fike 18:31
The. 

Rich Bennett 18:33
Their learning never stops. 

David Fike 18:35
That's for sure. I 

Rich Bennett 18:35
The 

David Fike 18:36
think. 

Rich Bennett 18:36
things I tell my kids. I don't care. What you 

David Fike 18:39
You 

Rich Bennett 18:39
do 

David Fike 18:39
do 

Rich Bennett 18:39
is 

David Fike 18:39
as 

Rich Bennett 18:39
you 

David Fike 18:39
you 

Rich Bennett 18:39
get 

David Fike 18:39
get 

Rich Bennett 18:40
older. 

David Fike 18:40
older. 

Rich Bennett 18:40
Get out of school when you get out of military, whatever the job. 

David Fike 18:44
You're doing. 

Rich Bennett 18:45
You're still going to be going to school. Because it never stops. Everything's always changing. 

David Fike 18:49
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 18:49
I mean. 

I mean, talk about the media, if you will, to stay doing what you guys are doing. 50 years ago, that business would no longer be around. 

David Fike 19:00
That's exactly right. Yeah. You have to evolve. 

Rich Bennett 19:02
Yeah. 

David Fike 19:02
Yeah, you have to evolve. 

Rich Bennett 19:03
You have to adapt with it. 

David Fike 19:05
Yeah, for sure. 

Rich Bennett 19:06
The two programs deal was that the executive program and the new program is. 

David Fike 19:10
The emerging leader program. So everything I talked about for our organization up to date, 

Rich Bennett 19:15
Mm hmm. 

David Fike 19:15
up to this moment has been really wrapped around our executive program 

Rich Bennett 19:18
Right. 

David Fike 19:19
catering to that kind of C-suite individual. This other program that we just launched was it was really born from our alumni, our alumni, when we went around the state, the first year I was in this job, we kind of did a listening tour around the state talking to some of our alumni and going around the region. And one of the things that popped up was, you know, we would really like some opportunity to do training for our mid-level managers that we feel are kind of our next level leaders that are the 

Rich Bennett 19:51
Right. 

David Fike 19:51
people that are going to move into the executive role some time in the in the future. But we want to give them literal leadership training. And so we put, uh, about a year and a half into modeling this out, you know, with a group of people on a committee and came up with this program, launched it right after the first of the year, this year got applications which we had got flooded with applications from businesses 

Rich Bennett 20:17
No. 

David Fike 20:18
that wanted to put people through and ended up selecting our first class of 40 individuals. That program will start up in June of this year and 

Rich Bennett 20:29
Okay. 

David Fike 20:30
then run till the end of the year. So really excited about that. When that one is less, we don't take them around the state. On that program there were really meeting in the Annapolis or kind of Ken Island area 

Rich Bennett 20:40
Right. 

David Fike 20:40
every time. But once a month we come together for basically a day. There's kind of leadership training in the morning that we do with our facilitator. And then in the afternoon we bring in some of the leaders that are from our executive program, that are alumni of our executive program to come in on a panel discussion and actually impart their thoughts about what we discussed in the morning and how they lead and how they manage and how they got to that next level to try to give some of that insight to the group and give them an opportunity to ask questions of those individuals. You 

Rich Bennett 21:13
Right. 

David Fike 21:13
know, so it's kind of an open dynamic. So the combination of the kind of practical training that we'll be doing and then also kind of the real life real world conversations you're going to have with some of the unbelievable panelists that we're going to have, you 

Rich Bennett 21:30
Right. 

David Fike 21:30
know, this year. I think our first panel in July is. 

Jake Day, who's the secretary of Housing and Community Development, 

Rich Bennett 21:41
Okay. 

David Fike 21:41
will be there. Eli Modlin, who is the chief of staff for Salisbury University down on the lower part of the shore. And then Jen Herwig, who is the H.R. director from BGN. 

Rich Bennett 21:54
Wow. 

David Fike 21:55
Yeah. So some powerhouse individuals coming in to share their thoughts about leadership to this group of emerging leaders in the state. So it's going to be an exciting year. We're really anxious to see how this program works and how it goes this first year, and I'm sure we're going to have to tweak it a little bit after the. 

Rich Bennett 22:13
Right. 

David Fike 22:13
But having this inaugural class of 40 people and so many people interested right off the bat is really exciting for our organization. 

Rich Bennett 22:21
So let's say let's say I own the business on the CEO, but I have a young person that. 

David Fike 22:28
I believe. 

Rich Bennett 22:30
They could be good, you know, good as a manager or, you know, supervise whatever you want to. 

David Fike 22:38
Call them. 

Rich Bennett 22:40
Is this somebody 

David Fike 22:40
Somebody actually 

Rich Bennett 22:40
actually. 

David Fike 22:40
actually send to. 

Rich Bennett 22:41
To the program or is it already you have to be like a mid-level. 

David Fike 22:45
It's really designed for somebody that's kind of a mid-level, not a uh, and not a not an up and coming kind of person. And, and the process to get into our programs is an application process. So in September we open up our applications for now, both of these programs in September, and people will actually have to fill out pretty extensive kind of questionnaire to give us a sense of who they are and are they the right mix of people? And going back to that diversity concept, it helps us build the diversity. When we got to know a little bit more about the individuals as well. And so we for the executive program, we actually even do half hour interviews with each applicant. We we don't do that with the emerging leader program. We actually we're considering most of them are going to be younger individual. 

Rich Bennett 23:31
Right, 

David Fike 23:32
And so we actually have them do a video of themselves and send in the video answering a question that we have to try to give us. Give us a sense of who were 

Rich Bennett 23:41
dear. 

David Fike 23:41
interacting with. So so that it's an exciting process. We as I said, I think earlier, we got flooded with applications 

Rich Bennett 23:50
Yeah. 

David Fike 23:51
in both cases, record numbers. And so it makes it that much harder when you get that many people that are applying and want to be a part of the program. How do you deal with these really qualified individuals that you have to kind of turn away? You 

Rich Bennett 24:04
Yeah. 

David Fike 24:04
know, and so but we have to do it every year, unfortunately. 

Rich Bennett 24:07
So with that, do they go on a waiting list or do they have to reapply the following year? 

David Fike 24:13
Yeah. So there's two different categories. If you don't get in the program, there is a group that we defer that is automatically entered into the next year's class. 

Rich Bennett 24:23
Okay. 

David Fike 24:23
And then there's a group that we just I don't want to say don't take, but we don't take, we 

Rich Bennett 24:27
Right. 

David Fike 24:28
don't, don't accept 

Rich Bennett 24:28
Fit. 

David Fike 24:29
it. They may be a good fit. We just don't have enough room. Even in the deferral area like this past year, we just didn't have enough room because we only defer X number of people every year. We don't want to have. We want to leave it open. 

Rich Bennett 24:41
Be able to get new applicants. 

David Fike 24:42
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So if we take a ton of deferrals and we're only looking for ten new people, it doesn't help us too much, you know? So. 

Rich Bennett 24:51
Hard. 

David Fike 24:52
It's especially this year, it was one of the hardest processes because, you know, you see great people. You know, we have some great leaders in the state, just amazing individuals in every sector. And you hear a little bit about their story and your read a little bit about their story and you go, Wow, I don't even know how I could turn this person away, but I have to now. 

Rich Bennett 25:11
Yeah. 

David Fike 25:12
And so it's a good problem to have from organization, you know, to be in that kind of a setting where we're getting that kind of response. But I think it also sends says a lot about what we're doing with the program and how our alumni feel about the program, because most of the people that apply come from our alumni in some way, shape or form. You know, they they say, I went through this program and I really loved it and you should do this. And they get somebody to apply. So I would say probably three quarters to 80% of our people actually come from alumni and recommending. And so when people ask me, you know, is it worth it? Is it a program that I should go through? I usually say you don't want to ask me because 

Rich Bennett 25:51
Through it. 

David Fike 25:52
I would say 

Rich Bennett 25:52
went through it. 

David Fike 25:53
I did. But yeah, go ask any alumni. And they and they will give you this glowing kind of look instantly. Their face lights up. Many will say it was a life changing experience for them. Some will say, you know, I ended up having, you know, lifelong friends, you know, that I got out of this or business contacts that I got were unbelievable. So, you know, I always say our our best our advertising and marketing is our alumni who are in love with our organization. And I'm forever grateful for them, you know, to continue to keep pushing the cause for our organization. 

Rich Bennett 26:28
That. Yeah. That that's the one thing that. 

Like I mentioned before, the Harvard Leadership Academy, it's it's always the alumni. Hear from. 

David Fike 26:40
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 26:40
And it's like the military. You know, I always tell people you want to go into the military. Don't talk to recruiters. Definitely don't talk to anybody that has never served. Talk to the veterans. 

David Fike 26:54
yeah. 

Rich Bennett 26:54
Talk to the people that are in there. The ones that are going to tell you how it is. 

David Fike 26:58
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 26:58
You know, And the same with this. This is the I this sounds like a well, it doesn't sound it is a great program. And everybody listen, I suggest even that you would definitely should definitely go through it, even if you've been through the other ones in the counties. Still do the states because it's your expanding. 

David Fike 27:19
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 27:20
You're getting out there more. How do people apply even though they can't get in this year? 

David Fike 27:24
Yeah, right. 

Rich Bennett 27:25
How do they apply a applied to join and 

is there. Well, I know 

there's definitely I'm aware mispronounce it Preet there's definitely requirements to get in. 

Van Reinhardt lives here 

by having some. 

David Fike 27:49
Somebody. 

Rich Bennett 27:50
Go to apply. I guess the website never say what the website is. And. 

David Fike 27:55
It caused. 

Rich Bennett 27:56
Is there any like, I guess there's new scholarships or anything like that, right? 

David Fike 28:00
So I'll answer all those questions and you go down through that line. So 

Rich Bennett 28:03
Okay. 

David Fike 28:04
applying is all online. If you go to our website right now, you can go to Leadership. M.D. Dawg, and you can look at our different programs. Just click on the program tab at the top. It will give you the information about the programs. As you're going through those pages. You can see something about applying right now. The application period is not open. We 

Rich Bennett 28:24
Right. 

David Fike 28:24
only we only open it for a two month window. So September, October, it's only open. 

Rich Bennett 28:28
You get that many African. 

David Fike 28:29
We do. Yeah. It's kind of fun. So it's a little crazy, too, So. So we. We only open it then during that time. But you also see in our website a nomination tab. And so if you click on nomination, you can self nominate yourself for sure. And just fill out the form or you can have. And what I would even recommend is try to find alumni of the of the organization and get them to nominate you because it adds a little bit more credence to you and gives you that, you know, extra step, you know, in the process that an alumni has actually nominated you. And so when you do that, then you're automatically entered into our kind of prospects database. 

Rich Bennett 29:13
Okay. 

David Fike 29:14
And so the first week of September, I'm usually pulling a list of everybody that's in our database. That's a prospect that is either, you know, put their name in or somebody has nominated them. Vast majority of people have been nominated by other people. 

Rich Bennett 29:28
Right. 

David Fike 29:28
I'd say, you know, 80 or 90% of them. And so we will pull that list. I will send out an email to every single one of them saying, you've been nominated in the program. Here's all the details about how you can apply and the application process and all the details about cost and all that information is all and embedded into that email. And then they can go through the process and determine whether they want to apply or they don't want to apply. And then once they apply at the end of October, we cut off all applications and then we start reviewing them a little bit and trying to determine where we want to go with the next step. 

Rich Bennett 30:02
But that's 

David Fike 30:03
That's 

Rich Bennett 30:03
a 

David Fike 30:03
a lot 

Rich Bennett 30:03
lot of 

David Fike 30:03
of our. 

Rich Bennett 30:03
hours you put in these days. 

David Fike 30:06
Myself in the committee that we've got, the selection committee that we've got, which is a they work 

Rich Bennett 30:12
Yeah. 

David Fike 30:12
a lot of hours, you know, looking at applications because the application isn't just one page. It's like a six page thing. And there's, you know, essays, essays you got to write and information you have to 

Rich Bennett 30:23
Really? 

David Fike 30:23
get. Reference letters and all this other stuff that you had to put in there. 

Rich Bennett 30:26
Joining the Naval Academy. 

David Fike 30:28
It might even be worse. 

So they go through that process and then you get to the end and they you know, we go through the interview process. If we do do interviews for our executive program and then we make a selection at the end of the year of who's in the program and who's not for that particular year. So. 

Rich Bennett 30:48
Wow. 

David Fike 30:49
Exciting process, you know? 

Rich Bennett 30:51
Yeah. It's not like you're drifting a football team or something. 

David Fike 30:54
Kind of. Yeah. Yeah. And it's. And thanks. 

Rich Bennett 30:57
He's going to be on that committee because that sounds like fun. 

David Fike 31:00
You're on now. I'll get you on there. 

Rich Bennett 31:03
How that. I mean, that's all. Which is good, though, because like you said, you only have 50 to going through the leadership, then 43, the other one. 

David Fike 31:15
Right. 

Rich Bennett 31:17
You're probably getting hundreds of applicants. 

David Fike 31:19
We get a lot of applicants coming through. So it makes it. And we're actually this year considering because we get we've gotten so many in the last two years actually having a cutoff point and saying, you know, once we get to x number, whatever x number is, we're just not going to take any more applications because the the workload on the committee this past year was just it was extensive, really, and. And a couple of them said, I'm never doing that again. So I think I probably need to change the policy or something there. So we will be probably having a separate guidelines and limiting it. So if you are one of those individuals who's nominated and you do get that email from me, I would encourage you to apply sooner rather than later in the process. And don't wait till the end because we may next year actually have a cut off related to the number of applications. 

Rich Bennett 32:06
So you may not be able to answer this since you haven't been there that long. But the other one is a brand new program. But with the executive program, has there been anybody that's gone through it that you were actually surprised that they went through it? I mean, I mean, like a good way like you you would never expect this person to come into the program. 

David Fike 32:34
You know, we do get applications that where I see somebody and I go, wow, that's either an incredible name, you know. 

Rich Bennett 32:41
Yeah, 

David Fike 32:42
Credible background and experience, or we get the other end to where somebody is. Maybe they're not really ready for it yet, 

Rich Bennett 32:49
right. 

David Fike 32:49
you know. And so we do get a little bit of that dichotomy of, you know, people that apply. But there's some big names that have been through our program. You know, just in my class alone, we have the CEO and president of our CEO only of care first, Brian Penick was in my class. 

Rich Bennett 33:07
Wow. 

David Fike 33:08
You know, our past. You know, alumni include the CEO of Whiting Turner. You know, big, huge corporations. 

Rich Bennett 33:15
Wow. 

David Fike 33:15
Individuals have been through our program. And there's just a lot of there's alumni that are there. And we have people that are not necessarily at that high level, too. 

Rich Bennett 33:23
Yeah. 

David Fike 33:24
You know, they may be in the same position at a small nonprofit or a small, you know, organization. And it's just as important, you know, to them as it is to be junior or, you know, one of the big companies. So we you know, we do see that variance of people coming through. 

Rich Bennett 33:37
But the thing is, as a as a business owner or even, you know, a director of a nonprofit, these are people I would love to sit down and just pick their brain. 

David Fike 33:47
Yeah, it's it is for me personally, 

Rich Bennett 33:51
Yeah. 

David Fike 33:51
being in this role, you know, it is kind of the most exciting part for me because I get to know 52 different leaders, you know, from around the state. 

Rich Bennett 33:58
Yeah. 

David Fike 33:59
And each one of them is completely different. You know, I try to find my time where I can sit with each one of them for a little while to get to know them beyond the application and beyond, you know, the stuff that we hear from them. 

Rich Bennett 34:09
Yeah. 

David Fike 34:10
We get to hear. I get to hear a little bit more about who they are and what they are. And it's the stories are unbelievable. You 

Rich Bennett 34:16
Oh, 

David Fike 34:16
know, 

Rich Bennett 34:16
I bet. 

David Fike 34:17
I just it's really exciting for me. I love that interaction and that there's that conversation with those individuals because, you know, they may be they're thinking they're learning, you know, from our organization. But when I'm in those one on ones with our group settings, you know, with them, I learned so much from those leaders about how they, you know, just handle themselves or how they run the organization or what they're trying to do. 

Rich Bennett 34:41
Yeah. 

David Fike 34:42
To improve themselves. So for me, it's just a it's a great experience for me and. 

Rich Bennett 34:48
Like a kid in a candy shop. 

David Fike 34:49
Kinda. Yeah. Yeah, it kind of is. 

Rich Bennett 34:51
Yelp. 

David Fike 34:51
Yeah. So. 

Rich Bennett 34:52
Oh, I know. I'm the same way. It's just because you can learn so much from them. I had actually I had a call yesterday with one of my mentors. He didn't know. He was one of my mentors for podcast. Because before I started this, I wanted to learn more about it. And I started following him on social media and everything, replying to stuff. And then I get an email from he wants to know if he could talk to me for a few minutes, get some ideas. I was blown away. And it's weird because it's almost like you're, well, like that kid in the candy shop. But it's like, I got to tell you this. You know, it's because you I learned so much. Yeah, of course. You see him turn to red. But 

before I get to my next question, is there anything you would like to add about either one of these programs? 

David Fike 35:42
Now. I think we covered a lot of ground there with that. 

Rich Bennett 35:46
You should definitely look into joining. 

David Fike 35:47
Yeah. Yeah. And you you can look me up on the website, you can contact us, contact me through the website if you've got further questions. I never afraid of picking up the phone and talking to you or coming to see you in some way to see if you're a fit or see if you have. You know, we can answer any of your questions you may have, and I do that on a regular basis. There's people, you know, connecting with us all the time. So I encourage you to do that. If you have questions about it, please connect with us. 

Rich Bennett 36:13
Now you say you. 

David Fike 36:15
You still have to. 

Rich Bennett 36:15
Ties with the. 

David Fike 36:16
One chamber of commerce. Just we do thing activities and stuff together. And they actually have people that are in our program. They nominate people in our program. We I think we have one in our emerging leader program this year, if I remember correctly. And so that kind of interaction we have back and forth, there's nothing formalized there but. 

Rich Bennett 36:35
Do you do anything with any of the other local chambers? Although I know some of them are already doing stuff with. 

David Fike 36:41
The state a little bit here and there. You know, I think probably some of our it's just because we have contacts there in some way. You know, one of our employees lives in Montgomery County and she's really tied to one of the chambers there in Montgomery County and has learned a lot and gotten a lot of information, you know, through that particular chamber and myself living over on the Eastern shore. It's there's many of those 

Rich Bennett 37:01
Right. 

David Fike 37:01
chambers that I've been interacting with. But there's a tie there, but not not as as close with those organizations. 

Rich Bennett 37:09
Well, that just means that all the people that have already gone through the program need to join those local chambers. People in the chambers go to the program. 

David Fike 37:16
There you go. 

Rich Bennett 37:18
Makes sense to me. 

David Fike 37:19
There you go. 

Rich Bennett 37:19
I'll be 

David Fike 37:19
There you go. 

Rich Bennett 37:19
bringing that up with my next. 

David Fike 37:21
You should. You should. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 37:24
The parking 

David Fike 37:24
Case because 

Rich Bennett 37:25
you 

David Fike 37:25
you 

Rich Bennett 37:25
guys 

David Fike 37:25
guys 

Rich Bennett 37:25
had 

David Fike 37:25
had 

Rich Bennett 37:25
a. 

David Fike 37:25
a. 

Rich Bennett 37:27
I don't think you've had any episodes since 2021, if I'm not mistaken. 

David Fike 37:32
Somewhere about there. Yeah. I think, you know, that was born from my predecessor. Saw the opportunity there, rightfully so. It's a great opportunity to start up a podcast and started up a podcast. I think the 

premise of it, you know, was just leadership in the concept of leadership, in interviewing leaders, you know, from around the state. 

Rich Bennett 37:51
Good idea. 

David Fike 37:52
It is a good, good idea. And and so when it stopped, it was really a function of COVID and, you know, just all the transition we had going on, you know, kind of in our organization. And so it's our really our intent to reignite that in some way. And we may rename it or refocus it, you know, the topic that we have, but it will never steer too far from leadership. 

Rich Bennett 38:17
Me. Sounds like a good. 

David Fike 38:18
Yeah, I know. 

Rich Bennett 38:20
I mean, it's still available on on the podcast app. 

David Fike 38:23
Oh, yeah, yeah. No, we'll we'll, we'll still have that name for sure. 

Rich Bennett 38:27
You need somebody to who should that's been in the you know, in media. Do you know of anybody? 

David Fike 38:31
I might know somebody at. 

Rich Bennett 38:34
No, I think I think it'll be a great idea because if somebody you know, the way podcasts are growing now, if people can go and listen to this and hear those leaders. It's just going to encourage them to reach out to you guys and join. The. 

David Fike 38:54
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 38:56
One of the programs. 

David Fike 38:57
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 38:58
You and I could see Academy. It's like 

David Fike 39:00
sure. 

Rich Bennett 39:00
leadership, Marilyn in the can. May. 

There's nothing out there called that right now, so. But no, I think it'd be it'd be great and. It's. Yeah. Granted, I know a lot of podcasts are started started during COVID. 

David Fike 39:19
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 39:19
I mean, you saw that number go from 700000 to 7 million. There are a lot of people stop doing it. 

David Fike 39:26
Yep. 

Rich Bennett 39:27
Whether it be people that had left or people realize it's a lot of hard work, but something like that is needed. 

David Fike 39:34
Yeah, I agree with you. You know, I think, you know, continuing the conversation about the leadership topic. 

Rich Bennett 39:39
Yes. 

David Fike 39:39
Yes. Whatever direction we go or whatever way we spin off of that I think is just needed, you know? 

Rich Bennett 39:43
Yeah. 

David Fike 39:44
At this time, You know, in our country and in our state, you know, leadership is vitally important. You know, you can just see it just with the recent developments of the Key bridge and, you know, how our many leaders have stepped up to try to help, you know, that process, that issue, you know, in that accident, it we're a strong state and we're going to get through it. And it's because of the strong leaders we've got in the state. So. 

Rich Bennett 40:07
The other thing is, too, because leaders need to understand. They need. 

David Fike 40:12
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:13
And not just on a local level worldwide to work together because it's just going to make everything. Better. 

David Fike 40:19
Better. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:19
Don't need to be clashing heads all the time. Leave that for the football players on. 

David Fike 40:23
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 40:24
Rugby, you know. 

David Fike 40:25
yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:26
Or even in a wrestling ring if you want. But that's good. That's going another way. So any. Since she was two years. 

David Fike 40:33
Two years. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:35
Any changes besides this new program and any other changes that you see for. 

David Fike 40:40
Leadership, Marilyn, 

Rich Bennett 40:40
I mean if you. 

David Fike 40:41
there will be more programs coming, you know, outside of these two programs. You know, we're right now in talks with a committee that we've established that created the emerging leader program that's actually talking about another program that's going to probably launch in 2025. And then there's two or three other topics that they've kind of kicked around for maybe future years. So our objective is really to try to create an organization that is there for leaders at any stage of their career. 

Rich Bennett 41:10
Mhm. 

David Fike 41:10
And so whether you're at the beginning, you know, and somebody who's not done leadership roles at all, 

Rich Bennett 41:16
Right. 

David Fike 41:16
maybe we're there to help that person. We're not there at that point in time. That's not us at this point in time, all the way up to the point where you're, you know, an advanced leader and maybe you're retiring and you want to use your leadership skills and capabilities to maybe go out and affect other organizations, especially nonprofits. 

Rich Bennett 41:33
I've seen people do that. 

David Fike 41:34
There's lots of that that's happening. How do we help them with that transition? You know, because maybe they come from a business world, but they don't necessarily understand how a nonprofit actually works. 

Rich Bennett 41:46
Yeah. 

David Fike 41:46
And how that function works. So there may be some opportunity for us down the road. None of that's been solidified, but there are. If I were a betting person, there'll be another program started. Our third program next year and maybe one or two more in the future years beyond that. But. 

Rich Bennett 42:02
I love it. And the thing is, with the people retiring and friend of mine, Ron Filling retired when Thompson Automotive closed in. Of course, most people I know when they retire. I think they're busier after they retire. Iran is just he's always been doing his working for all these nonprofits nonstop. 

David Fike 42:24
Yeah, You see that? And. 

Rich Bennett 42:25
Busier now than when he was in the car business. 

David Fike 42:27
I think that's what makes, you know, kind of our state so great. You 

Rich Bennett 42:31
Yeah. 

David Fike 42:31
know, you can see that all over the state where individuals want to give back, you know, they want to give whether they're still working or they're retired. They want to give back. And I think the more of that we can do with our state, the better it helps out us nonprofits to have those volunteers to help out in some way, shape or form to give us that knowledge or even just a helping hands to be able to expand and grow and kind of flourish in the year and future. 

Rich Bennett 42:56
Now something very important since you guys are a fiber one. See? Three. 

David Fike 43:01
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 43:01
Do you accept donations? 

David Fike 43:03
We do indeed. Yes. And so you can actually do that on our website as well. So it's leadership, M.D., Dawg. You can see what you can donate to. We have a couple different funds we have. You had asked earlier and I didn't answer this question about scholarships. 

Rich Bennett 43:17
Mm hmm. 

David Fike 43:18
So we have a general fund that they can donate into which is kind of used for a variety of different things. And on and I'm really pleased to say that over 95% of our alumni that have been through this program have donated to that fund. 

Rich Bennett 43:34
Nice. 

David Fike 43:34
Over the years, we. A lot of nonprofits can't say that too much, you 

Rich Bennett 43:38
Right. 

David Fike 43:38
know. You know, they may get the membership dues every year, but they don't necessarily get, you know, just monetary donations to the. We've got, you know, a high percentage of people that have gone through the program. They believe in it so much that they want to help the organization 

Rich Bennett 43:50
Good. 

David Fike 43:50
in some way. The second fund that we've got is actually our scholarship fund, and it's named after Nancy Mary, who was the original person in our in my role. So it was 

Rich Bennett 44:01
Okay. 

David Fike 44:01
myself, my predecessor, and Nancy, who was the original person who was the first president and CEO of this organization. And we accept scholarships. We sent funds to the scholarship fund that we have our donations to it. And every year, we have individuals. This is going back to that diversity component because we understand that we need a highly diverse kind of mix of people and that we know in order to do that, there are individuals that just you know, they're smaller organizations, smaller nonprofits, smaller private sector organizations that just don't have the funds to be able to pay for the tuition to go through this program. So for our executive program, we offer scholarships up to 60% of the cost of the program. 

Rich Bennett 44:44
Wow. 

David Fike 44:45
And then for our emerging leader program, we offer scholarships, which equate to about 25% of the cost of the program. And so, you know, we want and we give out scholarship money every single year. I think last year's class, if I remember correctly, 22 to 23% of the people in the class received some form of a scholarship. 

Rich Bennett 45:07
This. 

David Fike 45:08
This year is a little bit less than that, but it's right around the 20% mark. If I if I remember correctly. And and, you know, we want to use those funds to try to build that diversity in the. 

Rich Bennett 45:17
Yeah. 

David Fike 45:18
As much as we possibly can. So it's it's we're blessed to have the kind of funding that we've gotten from our alumni over the years to be able to do that. And hopefully we can still get contribute. So please do go and do go to the website if you want to contribute. We're happy to take any. 

Rich Bennett 45:34
Border. 

David Fike 45:35
You've got it. Yep. And if you have questions about any of that, again, you can contact me directly through the website and I will get back to you and answer any questions you may have. 

Rich Bennett 45:46
So those of you listening, even if you're not here, Marilyn, you can still make a donation. We'll accept donations from anywhere. It doesn't matter. 

David Fike 45:53
Sure. 

Rich Bennett 45:54
And if you want to go through the academy, look at the website. Of course you can't this year. But still, look at everything. Put it on your radar. Put it on your calendar. Whoever. So, you know, when applications when it's time to put in applications, which is September. Right. 

David Fike 46:11
First week of September, you get an email from me. 

Rich Bennett 46:13
Then you could. Yeah, definitely apply. Yes, Joel. Or I'm talking to you. You would be good at this. David. Anything to had. 

David Fike 46:22
I think we covered a lot of ground the with the organization. I'm really just thankful and excited to be here today and thank you for the opportunity and hopefully we gave them a little bit, gave everybody a little knowledge out there about our organization. 

Rich Bennett 46:36
You got to come on again, especially when you go for the next program as well. 

David Fike 46:39
Sure. 

Rich Bennett 46:41
And someone else is going to run by afterwards because I think it'd be great as well to. 

David Fike 46:46
To do so. 

Rich Bennett 46:47
David, thanks a lot. It's been a it's been an honor and a pleasure. Thank you. So. 

David Fike 46:51
For me as well. Thank you so much.