Leadership Scholarships Available for Brevard Nonprofit Workers and Small-Business Owners
LEAD Brevard is accepting scholarship applications through July 31 for its nine-month Leadership Brevard program, with priority factors that include financial need and community impact.
The people most likely to benefit from a countywide leadership program are not always the people whose employers can easily cover the tuition.
LEAD Brevard is accepting scholarship applications through July 31, 2026, for the next class of its flagship Leadership Brevard program. The published selection criteria specifically recognize financial need, community benefit, military service, public-sector work, small nonprofit employment and small-business ownership or employment.
What Leadership Brevard involves
Leadership Brevard is a nine-month program for established and emerging community leaders from the private, nonprofit and public sectors.
Participants attend monthly sessions held at different locations around Brevard County. Program days generally run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and focus on the systems, institutions and challenges shaping the county.
The program also includes hands-on community work and relationship building across industries. Tuition is $3,500, not including transportation to session locations.
For someone at a large organization, that cost may be covered as professional development. For a nonprofit employee, public servant or owner of a very small business, it can be the reason an otherwise strong applicant does not enroll.
How scholarship applications are evaluated
LEAD Brevard publishes the weighting used to evaluate scholarship applicants:
- 35%: Financial need
- 30%: Membership in a historically underrepresented group, cultural identity or disability status
- 10%: How the participant expects to use the experience to benefit the community
- 10%: Active-duty military service, military-spouse status or veteran status
- 5%: Employment at a nonprofit with an annual budget below $500,000
- 5%: Entrepreneur, owner or employee of a business with fewer than 10 full-time employees
- 5%: Public-sector employment
The organization does not publish a guaranteed number of awards. Its scholarship page states that annual funds are limited.
LEAD Brevard has provided leadership development and civic education in the county for four decades. Logo courtesy of LEAD Brevard.
Applicants still contribute at least $500
Scholarships reduce the cost rather than eliminating it completely.
Every scholarship recipient must contribute at least $500 toward tuition. Applicants begin by completing the standard program enrollment form, selecting the scholarship option and submitting a $500 deposit to secure their place and receive the scholarship application.
Anyone who does not receive an award—or receives one that leaves a remaining balance—is responsible for the rest of the tuition. LEAD Brevard offers payment-plan options.
New leadership at LEAD Brevard
The application cycle comes during a transition for the organization.
In April, LEAD Brevard announced Rachel Rutledge as its new CEO. Rutledge previously served as Brevard Public Schools' Career and Technical Education director and brings experience connecting education, workforce development and community partnerships.
She succeeds Kristin Bakke, who led the organization for more than two decades.
How to apply before the deadline
The scholarship deadline is July 31, 2026.
Applicants should:
- Complete the Leadership Brevard enrollment form.
- Indicate that they are seeking scholarship consideration.
- Submit the required $500 deposit.
- Complete the scholarship application provided by LEAD Brevard.
Questions can be directed to LEAD Brevard at 321-632-8222. Its office is located at 123 Barton Boulevard, Suite 101, in Rockledge.
For a program centered on strengthening Brevard through informed local leadership, helping nonprofit workers, entrepreneurs, veterans and public employees get into the room is not a side benefit. It is part of what makes the room more useful.
Sources and useful links
Kimberly Smith
Kimberly reports on nonprofits, volunteers, public health, and the neighbors turning good intentions into measurable local change. She looks for clear ways readers can understand a need, meet the people responding to it, and take part themselves.
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