Libba Vaughan has been selected as Leadership Birmingham’s new executive director, the group’s board of trustees announced today.
Vaughan, currently executive director for the Freshwater Land Trust, will serve as Leadership Birmingham’s fourth executive director, effective Sept. 1. Her selection follows an extensive search and selection by the organization’s executive search committee. Vaughan fills the role previously held by Ann Florie, who served in the position 14 years and recently announced her retirement.
“Libba is an extremely talented and community-focused leader, and she’s just who is needed to carry on Leadership Birmingham’s long tradition of developing successful leaders,” said Mike Warren, chairman of Leadership Birmingham board of trustees. “Her drive to help make our city better now and for future generations is evident in her accomplishments with the Freshwater Land Trust and with other efforts she continues to successfully lead today. We are thrilled she is joining us.”
Vaughan previously directed the Freshwater Land Trust’s philanthropy and communications and served as the director of UAB’s office of Service Learning and Undergraduate Research.
“We are excited Libba is bringing her experience to this new role. Her enthusiasm for connecting people and bringing businesses and communities together to accomplish great things is infectious,” said Guin Robinson, chair of Leadership Birmingham’s executive search committee. “Our committee conducted a very extensive search and vetted a number of wonderful candidates. I am proud of their hard work and dedication in finding the best fit. Libba will undoubtedly help take Leadership Birmingham to the next level.”
Vaughan, a 2018 graduate of Leadership Birmingham, led the Freshwater Land Trust’s successful land conservation, restoration and Red Rock Trail System projects, including the recently completed Kiwanis-Vulcan Trail. She also raised funds for the organization’s largest operating budget increase during her tenure. At UAB, she launched a faculty development program that increased university and community engagement.
Vaughan is on the board of Alabama Possible, the UAB Honors College Leadership Board, and the One Great Community Council. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham and The Women’s Network.
“Leadership Birmingham is vital to the success and prosperity of greater Birmingham,” Vaughan said. “It is the incubator and inspiration for ideas and connections and actions that make our region a better place for all of us, not just its graduates.
“I am so proud of what the board, staff, partners and I have accomplished together at the Freshwater Land Trust and what they are positioned to do in the future. I am honored to be asked to build on my collaborative experience to serve Leadership Birmingham and continue and grow its transformative impact,” she said.
More than 1,700 people have graduated from Leadership Birmingham since it began in 1983. The program’s purpose is to inform and educate participants through a series of issue-oriented monthly programs and is based on the belief that knowledge and relationships are key elements of effective community leadership. In addition, Leadership Birmingham directs programming for the Alumni Association and Youth Leadership Forum, a program for 10th- and 11th-grade students from public, private and parochial schools in Jefferson County.
