A New Year and a New Decade: 2010. The past five months have been my own Coro experience, a whirlwind of meetings with Coro stakeholders, working with staff and the board on a new strategic plan, and developing ideas to create a long-term sustainable financial model for this incredible organization. Part of that model includes our Leadership Luncheon, and I am excited to share the topic for this year: Public Higher Education in California, Can it Survive and Thrive in the 21st Century? Discussing the topic we have two preeminent leaders of great California universities, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau of U.C. Berkeley, and F. King Alexander, President of California State University, Long Beach. Their conversation will be moderated by Coro alumna and KQED reporter, Mina Kim
At our luncheon we also present two awards: the Crystal Eagle Award and the Coro Medal for Outstanding Community Leadership. The Crystal Eagle will go to Jeff Bleich, a Coro Alum, former Chair of the California State University Board of Trustees and the recently-appointed Ambassador to Australia. Jeff has written eloquently on the importance of access to quality and affordable public higher education; you might be interested in reading his opinion-piece in the Los Angeles Times on the subject here.
The Coro Medal for Outstanding Community Leadership will be presented to Dodge and Cox, a premier investment management and mutual funds firm, located in San Francisco. Van Duyn Dodge, one of Coro’s founders, teamed with Morris Cox to found this company. Dodge and Cox is known for their team approach to stock selection, they believe that a “Well-tuned group decision-making process, honed over the decades, enhances individual thinking and reduces dependence on any single person.” Clearly the influence of Van Duyn Dodge permeates both Coro and Dodge and Cox. Our luncheon will be held on Friday, April 23rd. I look forward to seeing you there!
The Coro Fellows have just returned from Sacramento from their State Government Focus Week. They met and interviewed some of the many influential players in state government. In addition, the Fellows shadowed legislators and elected officials. The week culminated in a mock Constitutional Convention staged by the Coro Fellows-- a daunting project. With the enthusiasm and intelligence of the San Francisco and Los Angeles cohorts, the outcome and presentations were interesting.
The Coro Exploring Leadership Program is launching its newest phase, the Youth in Action “teach back model. The Coro Campus Managers will supervise the Youth Fellows who will teach their Coro leadership tools to 15-18 of their peers at each school site. The whole group will then focus on bridging the achievement gap by developing an action plan to deal with the issue at their school.
The Coro Partners Program is going strong. By the middle of February all of our programs will be in operation. We partner with the Nehemiah Foundation, UC San Francisco, the City of Fremont and UC Davis Health Services to bring participants from each organization the same challenging curriculum we offer our own Coro Fellows. Each program is trained by a Coro Alum and each organization is feeling the impact of the Coro experience. These contract partners are a growing and exciting part of our work. These programs broaden Coro’s reach, offering our brand of leadership training to individuals and organizations and making an ever greater impact on the culture of leadership in our region.
On January 23rd, we had a very exciting and moving event here at the Coro office. We hosted a reunion of the first class of Coro Fellows, the Class of 1947. Four members of the class, Ralph Cole, David Nelson, Tom Sullivan and John Johnson traveled to San Francisco to reminisce, share, and be introduced to our current class of Fellows. Below you can read a current Fellow’s impression of the event….a remarkable opportunity for all, giving us a sense of Coro’s history and the impact that we are making. Stay tuned for a video of the event!
Finally, I want to thank all of you who support the Coro Center for Civic Leadership. We, like other nonprofit organizations, have felt the impact of the economic downturn and are focused on creating new, sustainable, and creative revenue streams. Individual donors and supporters of our Leadership Luncheon are key to our success and financial well-being. We thank you for that support, and we look forward to seeing you at the Leadership Luncheon on Friday, April 23rd.
Susan Shain, Executive Director
Read the Executive Director's Past Messages:
December 2009
September 2009