Much of the potential for Ohioans to come together to solve public problems lies in the willingness of its citizens not only to participate in groups but also to serve as leaders. We dene leaders as people who meet these criteria:
• Belonging to at least one group or organization
• Attending a meeting of any group or organization
• Serving as an ofcer or on a committee of any group or organization

Ohio ranks first in the nation among states in the NCoC study for its leadership rate: 11.3% of Ohioans serve as leaders while, nationally, 8.5% of Americans are leaders. 19

Leaders are highly engaged in all categories of civic engagement, and we see a great participation gap dividing joiners and those who do not participate. Civic leaders come together to work with others to solve public problems. Nationally, leaders volunteer at very high rates, lending their time and talents at a rate of 75% compared to 42% of those who participate in groups and compared to only 15% of those who do not participate in any group at all. This high rate of volunteering demonstrates the positive relationship between being involved in the community and taking an active role in making it better. In fact, leaders are more likely to do favors for neighbors—27.7% of leaders do so at least a few times a week whereas 4.2% of non–participants do so. The prole of community leaders in Ohio reects national trends, typically looking something like this:

The data shows a signicant racial and ethnic gap in civic leadership in Ohio . Statistically, virtually all leaders in Ohio report their race as white. 20 We suggest that this gap in leadership must be addressed through a variety of approaches aimed at increasing participation from all groups in all communities in the state of Ohio in order to respond to decreasing revenues in local and state governments, increasing demographic and economic changes and pressures across the state, and dropping rates of education that leave Ohioans under–prepared for the shifting economy.

We nd more leaders in rural areas where 12.3% are leaders in contrast to only 9.6% of urban residents. Higher rates of transience may in part explain this gap in leadership as urban residents are more likely to have changed addresses in the previous ve years than their rural counterparts. We need mechanisms in place that encourage participation and leadership regardless of address, welcoming new community members into informal and formal networks in urban, suburban, and rural areas.

Ohio's leaders come from the ranks of those who are currently employed , and we risk missing out on a pool of potential leaders who should be included among our civic leadership. Leaders are almost twice as likely to be employed: 11.0% of employed people are leaders but only 4.4% of unemployed people serve in this capacity. Ohio needs to draw its unemployed residents into community work through volunteering, group membership, and group leadership. This group represents an untapped resource in Ohio.

The Ohio Civic Health Index nds a gap in the educational attainment of leaders in Ohio. Leaders typically have some college experience. Among those 25 and older with no college experience, only 4.7% are leaders, in contrast to the same age group with some college experience, who serve as leaders at a rate of 16.7%. College experience makes citizens three times as likely to be leaders as those without college experience. Because of the clear relationship between college experience and leadership, Ohio must improve educational access to its residents and thus expand its pool of potential leaders. We discuss the signicance of educational attainment at length below.

Leaders tend to be older. The data shows Ohio leaders coming from the Silent Generation at a rate of 12.5%, from the Boomer Generation at 10.9%, from Generation X at 11.6%, and from Millennials at 4.8%. 21 Ohio's young people represent a signicant resource that needs to be developed through networks (social capital) that include young people and encourage their participation and leadership.

Women are slightly more likely to be leaders than men: 10.9% of women are leaders compared to 9.5% of men. This kind of leadership plays an important role in community problem–solving because it may serve as a corrective to the under–representation of women in formal elected positions in the upper levels of political office, another kind of leadership.

Overall, leadership rates in Ohio bode well for the civic health of our state. Because leaders are more likely to work with others to solve Ohio's problems, we call on Ohioans to strengthen this asset, extending it to include more leaders by increasing the diversity of leadership across the state — we must attract more Ohioans to leadership positions from among those who are unemployed , among residents who live in cities , among people of color , among younger generations , and among those without college experience . We want to build on our strength and develop momentum for greater leadership among all Ohio residents as we come together to solve Ohio's problems—in joining group associations, in communicating with friends, and in eating dinner together with our families.