The William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations, the flagship program of Wildacres Leadership Initiative, has named Cory M. Blankenship, an EBCI tribal member, to its 2017-19 class. The William C. Friday Fellowship is a competitive statewide program for cross-sector leaders. Friday Fellows receive free leadership training over the course of two years in locations across North Carolina including Carteret, Durham, Tyrrell, and McDowell counties.
Blankenship will join 23 other North Carolinians in this cohort and a network of over 200 other Friday Fellows alumni. Already a community leader, he serves as Secretary of the Treasury of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and is also on the boards of the Cherokee Historical Association, the Cherokee Boys Club, and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
“Positive change requires leadership rooted in human values, civil dialogue and full inclusion of all people,” said Abdul Rasheed, William C. Friday Fellowship executive director. “The Friday Fellowship seeks a balance between the inequities of rugged individualism and the crippling effects of social and economic entitlement.”
The program immerses active leaders in a system where they exercise leadership privileges and responsibilities. Class members gather for six four-day development seminars facilitated by core faculty and staff. Extensive reading, writing exercises, coaching and interim full group and subgroup meetings are included in the training.
– William C. Friday Fellowship
