Welcome to Coro in September. The new class of Fellows in Public Affairs has started, the summer portion of Coro Exploring Leadership has wrapped up and the Coro Leadership Collaborative Programs are about to begin.

Traditionally, the summer has been a time to regroup and ready ourselves for the new year’s work. September means gearing up our fundraising campaign, starting to prepare for our Leadership Luncheon (mark your calendars for April 29, 2011!), and selecting trainers to lead our Coro Leadership Collaborative Program.

This summer there was no rest for the weary! We were busy training trainers for our Coro Leadership Collaborative. This program is becoming an increasingly important part of our work. The Coro Leadership Collaborative brings Coro methodology to organizations wanting to offer their managers leadership training. We currently have contracts with the University of California, San Francisco, the City of Fremont, the University of California, Davis Health Services and the Nehemiah Foundation. At each organization, Coro-trained facilitators lead an eight-to-ten session program in leadership development. The experience is an abbreviated Coro Fellows experience and one which has had great impact on the participants and on our partner organizations. “Transformative” is a word often used in the final evaluations.

This program also provides Coro a renewable and expandable income stream, and offers leadership development opportunities, our mission, as a fee for service proposition. It increases our unrestricted revenue, and has the potential to lead us to greater financial security. As we expand the program, we need to expand our pool of trainers qualified in presenting the Coro curriculum. To this end, at the beginning of August, we offered a “Train the Trainer” (T3) program.

With the help of Minden Bennion, Director of the Fellows Program, Steven Redfield, Coro National Trainer, and the advice and counsel of our board members, Christine Landon and David Sibbet, we created a three and one-half day program. The session started with a logic study, and it then introduced Coro tools and methodologies, giving all in attendance an opportunity to learn, experience and practice. It concluded with a half-day retreat featuring Coro trainers answering the participants’ many questions.

The participants in the training were impressive. All are consultants with a minimum of twenty years experience in organizational development and psychology, strategic planning, and meeting facilitation. Many are recognized thinkers, authors and innovators in the field of leadership development.

In June, when the idea for a “T3” was conceived, we decided that we would be happy if we had five to seven participants. As the first day of the training approached, we had to turn interested consultants away. We had twenty participants from the Bay Area, Nevada, New Mexico and Alberta, Canada. The interest was high, and the program was a great success.

In addition to expanding our pool of qualified trainers, we have also established a Coro Leadership Network for the participants of the T3, along with other interested consultants to participate in quarterly leadership networking events. These events will bring together leadership consultants, giving all an opportunity to network and share best practices. 

The summer was not only productive but very exciting for Coro. We are paving new paths, opening new doors, and we see a future which is true to our mission, expands our impact and energizes the organization.                                         

Susan Shain, Executive Director