The St. Louis Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs and Women In Leadership program are now being run by FOCUS St. Louis. Information about both of these programs can be found at their website, www.focus-stl.org.

General information on the Fellows Program in Public Affairs can be found here.

FOCUS St. Louis is also the regional contact point for alumni of these programs and friends of Coro in the St. Louis area. Alumni interested in information on national activities and networking opportunities are encouraged to visit the Coro National Alumni Association (CNAA) section of this site.

We welcome FOCUS St. Louis in their new role running the St. Louis Coro programs.

The letter below provides details about the transition from the outgoing Coro board.

Dear Friend of Coro:

Today marks an important transition for Coro in the St. Louis region. Later today, we will publically announce that the Coro Leadership Center-St. Louis and FOCUS St. Louis® have signed an agreement for FOCUS to acquire and continue operating the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs (Fellows) and the Coro Women In Leadership Program (WIL). As a result, the Coro Leadership Center-St. Louis will be dissolved.

This decision was made after months of consideration about how to best ensure the long-term continuity of Coro programs in St. Louis. Our desire to preserve the heritage of Coro training in St. Louis led the Coro Leadership Center-St. Louis Board of Directors to agree, unanimously, that this move is in the best interest of the Coro programs as well as the St. Louis community.

The Coro Leadership Center has struggled repeatedly over the years with fiscal instabilities that were further exacerbated by the economic downturn. In early 2010, a special Board committee began conversations about how to best move the Coro organization forward. Those conversations continued as Coro entered another leadership transition earlier this spring.

From the beginning, we grounded our conversations about the future of Coro in our shared commitment to maintaining quality Coro training in the St. Louis region and honoring the contributions of the dedicated Coro staff. Through our discussions, the Board explored new organizational models for Coro, new leadership structures, and had a number of conversations with various organizations about developing partnerships. During that time, FOCUS approached us about possible strategic opportunities between our organizations. Over many years, Coro and FOCUS have independently operated strong leadership development programs and, at various times, have discussed partnership. Given the realities at Coro, both organizations saw this as an ideal time to reopen those discussions and to engage Coro and FOCUS alumni in thinking about how the two might come together.

Integrating Coro into FOCUS strengthens leadership development in St. Louis by combining the outcomes of Coro's programs with FOCUS' long running history of administering and executing well-respected leadership development programs. FOCUS' existing programs operate separately from each other, providing an independence that will help maintain Coro's existing training model.

This transition is simplified and strengthened by the new Coro National By-Laws. The Coro National Board of Governors now oversees a revised Coro network of both independent Coro Centers and affiliate programs which provide Coro training but are not Coro Centers. FOCUS has worked with Coro National to secure a license to continue the operation of Coro programs in St. Louis. This relationship includes formal oversight of the Coro programs at FOCUS by Coro National, training support from the Coro National Trainer, and assurances to shield Coro from partisan and advocacy activities.

The Coro Board will oversee the transition process and integration of the programs into FOCUS' organization. The process to formally dissolve the Coro Leadership Center-St. Louis began as employees and contracted staff at the Center had their last day with Coro on June 30, 2011. We deeply appreciate their unwavering commitment to the Coro community and are indebted to them for their contributions to leadership development in our region. To reach out to them to express your gratitude and/or offer support during this time of personal transition, former Center staff can be reached in the following ways:

Keith Clark, Fellows Trainer, will continue his role as a new employee of FOCUS. Keith recruited the 2011-2012 Fellows Class and will provide important continuity for their Coro experience in St. Louis. He begins his work at the FOCUS office today, and he can be reached at KeithC@focus-stl.org.

Members of the Coro community will need to continue their involvement to ensure continuity of Coro's on-going programs and help integrate Coro's community and culture with FOCUS'. Three initial structures have been specifically defined to further this effort. First, FOCUS will be allocating two Board seats to Coro program alumni. Additionally, FOCUS will be developing two advisory bodies: a temporary Transition Advisory Committee to ensure a smooth start to the Coro programs and a standing Coro Program Advisory Board to support FOCUS in operating Coro training programs and to serve as a support structure for Coro program participants.

This transition is a significant one, and we are optimistic it will strengthen the leadership and community development possibilities in our region and better secure the future of the Fellows and WIL programs. We expect to have events to help introduce our communities to one another as the year continues. Currently, FOCUS' energy, and our support, is concentrated on ensuring a smooth start for the 2011-2012 Coro Fellows class and managing the applications to the WIL Class 57.

Your support will continue to be critical to the success of Coro in St. Louis. As the integration progresses, there will be many ways to be involved. If you would like to take more immediate action to support the future of Coro programs, please provide assistance in securing Nonprofit Placements (September 12 – October 14) and Labor Union Placements (October 24 – November 4) for the upcoming Fellows Program. Contact Keith with possibilities.

Thank you for your commitment to civic engagement and your continued support of Coro training. As we move forward, please know that we are happy to answer any questions you may have about the process and brainstorm ways that you can be meaningfully involved in sustaining the impact of Coro's programs at FOCUS.

Sincerely,

Coro Leadership Center-St. Louis Board of Directors

Benjamin R. Johnson, Chair, benjaminrjohnson@gmail.com

Christy Kaufman, Vice Chair, christy.l.kaufman@boeing.com

Peter Aje, Treasurer, peter.aje@rubinbrown.com

Susan Fox, Secretary, susanchristinafox@yahoo.com

Erica Abbett, eabbett@sbcglobal.net

Diana Bentz, diana.bentz@commercebank.com

Christopher Chung, chris@missouripartnership.com

Tony Daws, acdaws@yahoo.com

Kay Henry, khenry@wustl.edu

Lesley McIntire, mcleskno@aol.com

Michelle Miller, michelletmiller@hotmail.com

Brian Rothery, brian.rothery@erac.com

Thelma Scott, tscott@standrews1.com