During the last month, we have been working hard at engaging all of our loyal constituents and working together to create a vibrant and engaging Coro. Our programs are paving new ground, our board and staff have embarked on strategic planning, and our board and alumni are hosting events. We are all working towards a Coro which will be instrumental in creating the leadership of tomorrow. Our Fellows are off and running. They have completed their government and non-profit placements and continue to impress our field faculty community partners:

“The overall work performance of the Coro Fellow is extremely high. The commitment to bringing all of her experience, creativity, and education to totally focus on the project was excellent. Her work was equivalent to a $100/hour consultant.” – Helynna Brooke, Executive Director of SF Mental Health Education Funds, Inc 

“Your fellows are terrific! Well trained, culturally competent, hard-working” – Cleveland Justis, Director of Institute at the Golden Gate

As you will read in our updates, Innovation Week took the Fellows to Silicon Valley for an in-depth look at how technology leaders in Silicon Valley have achieved success. They participated in a fantastic business simulation day with BTS (Business Training Simulations), which prepared them to embark on a month-long social innovation project. The result was a Social Enterprise Pitch Night, where a panel of experts evaluated the Fellows’ business proposals.  In addition to the panel, we had a full audience of Coro alums who used “Coro Bucks” to invest in their preferred social enterprise. It was an informative, fun, and interactive evening.  I want to give kudos to the Fellows, to Minden Bennion, the Fellows Director, for executing on the idea, and to the esteemed panel of experts.

Our Exploring Leadership Team has also been hard at work providing the Youth Fellows with a rich experience. Amy and Ben, Director and Manager of Exploring Leadership, have lead the Youth Fellows in addressing the digital divide with a day at the Sequoias Retirement Community where they helped seniors set up email accounts. The Youth Fellows are also preparing for the “teach back” portion of their year-long program. We have just finished an extensive hiring process to secure the campus managers who will oversee the Youth Fellows’ teaching and facilitation of their classmates. The Youth Fellows will address the educational achievement gap, looking for ways to improve accessibility to educational opportunities. 

Our alumni have also been hearing from us! We kicked off our alumni engagement program, with an event evoking the essence of Coro.  Created and facilitated by Mina Kim, a Coro trainer, and her partner, Tom Capriola, both graduates of Coro Fellows Class of 2004, the evening was an in depth and engaging inquiry into Coro’s future and how alumni can help.  By the end of the evening, the alumni had committed to volunteer to support Coro.

Finally, our newest Partners Program began in October. The brainchild of Scott Syphax, the CEO of Nehemiah Corporation, a 1992 Coro FPPA graduate, and the Chair of the Coro National Board of Governors, the Nehemiah program will last for 12 months and is focused on providing multi-faceted leadership training for a group of young African American emerging leaders in Sacramento. The program is a first for us, partnering Coro with the American Leadership Forum. The curriculum also takes advantages of additional opportunities. Recently the program participants had a training on digital storytelling, and most recently had a session on etiquette by television personality, B Smith. It is an innovating and exciting program and we’re very excited to have partnered with the Nehemiah Corporation and the American Leadership Forum.

Our Board has stepped up and is demonstrating their expanded support. Lucia Choi-Dalton and Eric Casher, two of our board members, hosted a house party for our alumni and supporters in October. There were presentations from our current Fellows and recent Exploring Leadership graduates.  We hope to see you at future events.

It is also the season of giving. As you can see, Coro is at an exciting and invigorating point in its history. There are abundant opportunities for the future; we are ready to move forward in creative and innovative ways. We need your help to achieve the goals and impact we all know are attainable. We cannot do this without the Coro “village” pitching in to support our collective vision. You will be receiving our annual appeal letter shortly and I ask you to consider, What does Coro mean to me?  and How I can help?  Please give generously. Help us create the Coro of the future, a Coro that will create the next generation of vibrant, collaborative, and innovative leaders.

                                                                               Susan Shain, Executive Director



Read the Executive Director's Past Messages:

September 2009