What is Coro?
The Organization
The Training Methodology
The Programs
Outcomes of the Coro Program for Participants
Outcomes of the Coro Program for Communities
Examples of Notable Coro Alumni
The Name/The Logo
Coro is an organization begun in San Francisco in 1942 by W. Donald Fletcher, an attorney, and Van Duyn Dodge, an investment counselor, to train young veterans in the leadership skills necessary to assure that our democratic system of government could more effectively meet the needs of its citizens.
Since 1947, when the first program was delivered, Coro has grown to include Coro Centers in six cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles (1957), St. Louis (1972), Kansas City (1975), New York (1980), Pittsburgh (1999), and a new Executive Fellows program in Cleveland, funded in partnership with The Cleveland Foundation (2005).
1000-1200 participants a year go through Coro programs nationwide. At least 10,000 program alumni are currently serving as leaders in local, regional and national/global businesses, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies and elected public office.
The six Centers, Program, and an alumni service organization, are connected, supported and leveraged as a system by Coro National, a 501(c) 3 governing body that serves as the national voice and partner for the regional centers and alumni participants, and works to build capacity for the system and enhance program quality standards and innovation.
Coro is a non-profit, non-partisan educational institute supported by foundations, corporations and individuals.
Coro: The Training Methodology
Coro uses an experiential approach to leadership development. Coro’s intense, community-based selection process identifies bright, high-achieving, self-starting individuals with the greatest potential for learning and growth.
Selected program participants are then placed in a series of sequential internships in government, business, labor, media and not-for-profit community organizations, as well as in political campaigns of both parties and special community problem-solving projects that require cross-sector organizing, negotiation and coalition building for successful resolution.
The experiential learning of the internships is supplemented by training that brings participants together as a group for focused reflection on their experiences and assigned readings, as well as for rigorous skills development and critiques of group project approaches and progress.
An important benefit of the group process is that participants are pressed to identify and take responsibility for managing their personal strengths and weaknesses, and encouraged to define and apply personal ethical standards in the context of complex challenges.
- Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs is Coro’s best known program and one of the premiere non-academic, full time postgraduate programs in the country. Over the last decade, The Princeton Review has consistentlyfeatured the Fellows Program as one of the top 10 internships in the country.
- Community and targeted programs: Coro has also expanded and evolved its leadership and civic engagement training to include almost 25 kinds of intensive community programs designed to:
- convene key stakeholders to address city, state and regional economic and community development challenges, including the issue of developing, attracting and retaining local leaders;
- help organizations learn to work together – rather than competitively--to determine their future;
- enhance the leadership skills and problem-solving capabilities of critical populations, including:
- neighborhood leaders
- women leaders
- business sector leaders (e.g., health care, technology, etc.)
- executive level multi-sector leaders
- individuals running for public office or recently elected office holders;
- middle, high school and college students;
- new immigrant leaders;
- senior citizens
- Summer programs: modeled on the Fellowship in Public Affairs, these programs engage college sophomores, juniors, seniors in intensely competitive summer leadership experiences
- Contract programs: Coro Centers regularly design specific programs for clients who want to improve the effectiveness of their employees or constituents in the public affairs arena. These programs are tailored to meet the needs of the organization and are provided on a contract basis. For a sample listing of contract programs and more information about these services and fees, please contact the Coro office nearest you.
Outcomes of the Coro Program for Participants:
The desired outcomes of Coro’s learning experience include:
- Expanding individuals’ assumptions and mental models, moving them from simplistic or ideological interpretations of problems to a more nuanced understanding of dynamically complex, multi-dimensional problems
- Enhancing individuals’ capabilities to address complex problems with the right combination of skills directed at multiple levels of problem-solving
- Moving individuals beyond personal leadership skills to collaborative leadership skills with a diverse range of individuals and stakeholders
- Helping individuals apply academic learning and ethical principles to real-life experience
- Enhancing individuals’ confidence that they can make a difference as active, engaged citizen leaders
Outcomes of the Coro Program for Communities:
Coro’s focus on experiential learning requires the development of a network of local and regional organizations willing to create internship and project opportunities for program participants. As participants work in these organizations, Coro provides a safe civic space in which diverse organizations and leaders enter into dialogue with program participants and each other.
In addition to developing individuals’ leadership skills, Coro also promotes the development of social capital and the extended network of relationships that helps communities and regions address social, community, economic development and governance challenges. In some cities, the Coro program is structured with additional incentives designed to encourage program participants to stay in the region after they finish the program.
Examples of Notable Coro Alumni:
Government
- Hon. Phil Angelides, Treasurer, State of California (LA '75)
- Hon. Marvin Baxter, Associate Justice, California Supreme Court (SF '63)
- Hon. Anna Eshoo, Member of U.S. House of Representatives (SF '79)
- Hon. Vic Fazio, Former Member of U.S.House of Representatives (LA '66)
- Hon. Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia (KC)
- Hon. Dianne Feinstein, Member of the U.S.Senate (SF '56)
- Robin Kramer, Former Chief of Staff, Mayor of Los Angeles (LA '81)
- Hon. Jerry Lewis, Member of U.S.House of Representatives (SF '57)
- Hon. Alex Padilla, Los Angeles City Council (LA '95)
Business
- Bruce Corwin, Chairman and CEO, Metropolitan Theatres Corporation (LA '63)
- Michael Davis, Vice President, J.P. Morgan (StL '90)
- David Friedman, Ernst & Young Consulting, Pittsburgh (StL '88)
- Craig Fuller, President and CEO, National Association of Chain Drug Stores (LA '74)
- Michael Kim, Director New Consumer Products, Microsoft Corporation (StL '93)
- John Kobara, President and CEO, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and Inland Empire (LA '79)
- David Moskovitz, Managing Director, Accenture(StL '81)
- Diana Tasaka, Director of Corporate Communications, Farmers Group, Inc. (LA '84)
- Frederick O. Terrell, Managing Partner and CEO, Provender Capital Group LLC (LA '77)
- Sarah Williams, Assistant Director, Corporate Philanthropy Programs, Pfizer, Inc. (NY '90)
Media
- William Connelly, Strategic Analyst (ret.), The New York Times (NY '95)
- Helen Dewar, Staff Writer, The Washington Post (SF'58)
- Ava Ehrlich, Executive Producer, KSDK, Channel 5 (NBC Affiliate) (StL '76)
Nonprofit
- Lisa Carlson, Executive Director,The Centers at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center(StL '84)
- Iris Chen, Program Director, Teach for America (NY '94)
- Joseph Harney, Director, Center for Management, WagnerGraduate School of Public Service, New York University (NY '87)
- Bill Jackson, President, GreatSchools.net (SF '91)
- Andrew Kimball, President and CEO, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation(NY '90)
- Eliza Leighton, Cofounder, Stand for Children (NY '96)
- Andrew Rubinson, Founder and Executive Director, Fresh Youth Initiatives (NY '88)
- Beatriz Olvera Stotzer, President & Founder, New Economics for Women (LA '84)
- Scott Syphax, President and CEO, Nehemiah Corporation of America (SF '92)
- Caprice Young, President and CEO, California Charter Schools Association (LA '93)
- Vivian Vazquez, Director, Program Development, Girls Club/Citizen Advice Bureau (NY '88)
- James Weinberg, Founder and CEO, Commongood Careers (Pgh ’01)
Labor
- Alice Fialkin, President, Transportation Worker's Union/ SF MUNI - (SF '94)
- Patricia Garcia, Workforce Development Specialist, United States Department of Labor, San Francisco - (SF '84)
- Poncho Guevara, Policy Director, Working Partnerships USA - (SF '96)
- Josie Mooney, President, San Francisco Labor Council - (SF '75)
The Coro logo was created in 1970 by Hisashi Nakamoto. The center part of the "C" is meant to look like an eye to represent the fact that Coro always has its eyes open in public affairs. Yet in spite of being in the center, there is still an opening for exploration and discovery. The "C" also seems to be pointing out in a direction to symbolize a purpose and mission.
The name "Coro" is the creation of its founders. Their vision for a program of educational discovery to prepare citizen leaders was a totally new concept. Thus Coro - a new word and one without association - was invented to represent both discovery and exploration.
