Our Blog: where do you stand?
Next Entry | Previous Entry | All Blog Entries | Subscribe to Feed
Giving back to your community… through training
By: Christi Dixon | 11/12/2008
When we talk about giving back to our community, we’re often speaking of time, expertise or dollars. Standing Partnership has a long history of giving back. What I’ve been learning over the past several weeks is the importance of training and professional development in determining the direction, impact and overall effectiveness of community involvement. Where, you ask?
Here. Alongside 19 other women with amazing resumes and passions for what they do in St. Louis. It’s inspiring.
The Coro Women in Leadership program is formally described as “a five-month, part-time training program aimed at providing an opportunity for women to refine their personal and professional leadership competencies as well as learn about the community.” That simply doesn’t do the program justice…
Women in Leadership has opened my eyes to what’s already happening in our community and ways that business, nonprofits and normal, everyday people can join forces to tackle big issues. We have studied inquiry, General Semantics and experiential learning. We explore social institutions and community sector by using the community as the classroom… and we’re learning about effective leadership and how others perceive us as leaders.
I’ve also learned that there are nearly 800 St. Louis women who have graduated from the Women in Leadership program, including our own Amber Morris, Julie Steininger and Cathy Dunkin.
As noted on Coro’s site, other focus areas include:
- Inquiry and interview skills (my personal favorite… I could interview new people all day!)
- Decision making
- Cultural awareness
- Effective communication
- Organization analysis
- Facilitation
- Team building
Without giving too much away… suffice it to say that Coro is allowing emerging St. Louis leaders to go beyond donations… we are learning to become informed, active and engaged citizens who can really make a difference!
Posted in Where We Stand
comments
Sarah Sourial says:
Thu, November 20, 2008 at 11:23:am
Great post, Christi! With the economy as it is, I think our community needs to be more innovative in the ways it creates leaders and gives people opportunities to give back. Speaking from experience, the CORO Women in Leadership program is a great example of that! I welcome your thoughts on other innovative ways to give to our community, especially during what will be a difficult holiday season for many…
Lori Goldberg says:
Thu, November 20, 2008 at 11:40:am
As a fellow member of the CORO Women in Leadership Class 51, I couldn’t agree more with your post. Continuing education, exposure, and experience makes us more responsive, attuned and aware of the issues facing St. Louis. The development of leadership skills is a crucial element in giving citizens the opportunity to utilize their expertise in bringing about change in a meaningful way.
Tanya F says:
Thu, November 20, 2008 at 6:33:pm
I’ve been amazed at how the class has shown me a rich/poor division amongst corporations and nonprofits, also. Really, this training is quite multifaceted with things that I’ve learned about myself and my leadership and group interaction skills, about the St. Louis community, about local politics, and about the variety of businesses, nonprofits, and government work environments.
Sue Wagener says:
Mon, December 01, 2008 at 11:41:am
Christi I enjoyed reading your comments! They are so right on. I have been so richly blessed by the feedback and relationships built thru CORO and hope to continue them beyond the class.
As a leader of a NPO, I have been concerned that we will not be able to generate the revenue needed to take care of the homeless youth we serve. It is vital that we (emerging leaders) join forces to ensure that the community understands how the economy impacts all of us especially those with little resources of their own. We have met phenomenial women throughout the past several months that have learned how to take care of themselves, their families and their communities. It is inspiring to see how much we really can do as a group.
CORO has opened my eyes to what is going on in our community and to the great potential of women as leaders! As the slogan says…just do it!
series
categories
client blogs
Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport :: Jet Blast
Parents as Teachers National Center
what we read
Center for Media and Democracy
How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media
Dani Mann says:
Wed, November 19, 2008 at 7:32:pm
As your fellow CORO-nian…
I agree completely that continuing education… in so many ways… is another form of “giving back.” The more educated we are on the issues and needs in our community (or nation… or world… etc), the more likely we are to step in on some level and contribute in a meaningful way.