This case study examined how participating in a formal leadership development program impacted the development of leader identity for community college leaders. An examination of the program curriculum and materials, program facilitator interviews, participant surveys, focus groups, individual participant interviews, and participants' program documents were used to understand the program and the experience participants had in the program. Inductive and deductive coding methods were used sequentially to analyze data, and a holistic review of all data was conducted to merge and identify themes. Five major themes emerged in the research: how leader identity development was supported; what developing a leader identity means; the role of relationships for leader development; challenges that emerging leaders experience, and the authenticity of equity and diversity in leadership development. Mezirow's transformative learning theory, literature relating to leadership development and community college leadership helped shape the findings in this research. Further, this research suggests that the structure and intentionality of leadership development programs, establishing a culture of leadership, giving participants agency in their experience, and ensuring participants experience authentic inclusion and equity in their experience are impactful for the development of lead identity for emerging leaders. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]