Encore Program Application Information
Please read below for more information regarding the application process.
Applications can be submitted at any time. Cohorts begin in September of each year.
Applications submitted between May 1 and August 31 can choose to be placed on the waitlist for consideration in the upcoming cohort and/or the following cohort year.
Submissions between September 1 and April 30 will be considered for the following cohort.
Once submission requirements are reviewed, please click the link at the bottom of this page to begin the application.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact marquise.mckine@leadermont.org, or call (301) 881-3333.
Encore Program Application Requirements
The Encore program is for people who are either planning to retire from full-time work within the calendar year or have retired within the last five years and wish to cultivate a purposeful post-professional leadership transition.
In order to be considered for program acceptance, the applicant must:
- Live in Montgomery County
- Be planning to retire from full-time work within the calendar year or have retired within the last five years
- Be willing to give their time, energy, and expertise to volunteer/community service
- Complete and submit an application for the Encore Program
Session Dates
LM Led Sessions
- September 25
- November 20- Joint session day with CORE and EL
- January 22, 2025
- March 19, 2025
- May 21, 2025
Self-Guided Sessions
- October 16
- December 18
- February 19, 2025
- April 16, 2025
Other Key Dates
Cohort Meet & Greet
Wednesday, August 21
Homecoming
Tuesday, October 1
Graduation
Friday, May 30, 2025
Attendance Policy
No more than 8 hours of excused absences are permitted in the event of a substantiated emergency or serious illness. Any participant who has an unexcused absence or who misses more than 8 hours for whatever reason will be asked to withdraw from the program. Attendance at the Opening and Closing sessions is mandatory. If you know in advance that you are likely to miss more than 2 of the session dates listed below, you should consider postponing your application until a future year.
Application Fees
There is a $65 fee to apply to the Encore Program.
If you have previously applied to the Encore program, the fee is $25
Participants will submit their fees with their application
Application fees are non-refundable.
Financial Aid
Tuition assistance is available on a sliding scale based on personal income level. If you are interested in applying for tuition assistance please complete the form below and submit it along with the required tax forms when you submit your application. Tuition assistance applications received after application submission will not be considered.
Your request for tuition assistance in no way influences the selection process and is totally confidential. Each request will be reviewed independent of the selection process and will have no effect on selection.
Tuition assistance form can be found below or in the application form. It MUST submitted with program application form.
Application Components and Info
The Encore application is comprised of the following components:
- Basic Contact Information
- Demographic Information
- Employment Information (alternate option to upload resume instead)
- Special Awards/Honors
- Community Service Activities
- Open-Ended Questions
- Tuition Assistance Form and Supporting Documents (optional)
- Signature for Statement of Commitment
- Application Fee Payment
The time to complete the application can take 30-60 minutes, depending on open-ended question preparedness. Applications do not need to be completed in one sitting. There is an option to save your progress and return later to complete/submit.
Encore Application FAQs
All applicants will be notified whether or not they have been accepted by the end of June.
Yes, but you must hit “save and continue later” at the bottom of the page, otherwise your work will not be saved. The form does NOT auto-save.
Once you hit “save and continue later”, you will be emailed a link to come back to your application. You will want to save the link as this is your only entry to your partially completed application.
Yes. You can download a PDF of the sample application here.