The new Coulter Regional Leadership Program, with the support of the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, will begin a pilot program in October 2013. This program will give people in the region new opportunities to learn and work together across cultures, governments, systems and counties to identify, understand and address region-wide challenges and opportunities. The Program will bring together adults from Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain Counties and the Qualla Boundary to learn about leadership and practice leadership through group projects to benefit the region.
Applications to participate in the pilot year program will be accepted until Aug. 15. Participants will be chosen by Sept. 1.
Planning for the program began with listening sessions in the fall of 2012. More than 100 people in six counties and the Qualla Boundary participated and discussed the needs for leadership and effective approaches to leadership learning. Four themes emerged as desired key elements for the Coulter Program. These include expanding individual leadership competencies, including public speaking project management skills, developing hands-on experiential learning and group service projects, creating opportunities for mentoring, and adopting a regional approach to solve problems and take advantage of opportunities.
Named for Dr. Myron Coulter, the Program honors Dr. Coulter’s lifelong work in leadership and his interest in the western North Carolina region. Chancellor at Western Carolina University for a decade, Dr. Coulter was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and was an active and effective leader in the region.
The Coulter Program builds on recent leadership initiatives of the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. Since 2005, the Foundation has established the Costa Rica Cultural Exchange Program, the Jones-Bowman Leadership Award Program, the Cherokee Youth Council and youth councils in the seven far west counties, and the Right Path Program for EBCI tribal members.
Info: Juanita Wilson, program director of WNC Leadership Institute, 497-7920, 736-5903 or jmwilson@email.wcu.edu.
– Juanita Wilson
