Mission and History
Leadership Winston-Salem was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation on May 29, 1984. Each fiscal year runs from July 1st to June 30th.
Our Mission
The mission of Leadership Winston-Salem is to educate, connect and energize leaders to serve and improve the community.
Our Vision
We envision a community where leaders in every sector and from every neighborhood turn knowledge into action for the greater good.
Our Values
Leadership Winston-Salem values diversity and inclusiveness at every level, continuous learning, collaboration, integrity and civility.
A Brief History of the Founding of Leadership Winston-Salem
Prior to 1982, Julius Corpening, development director at Wake Forest University, recognized the need for Winston-Salem to have a community leadership program and approached the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. In 1983 this resulted in Ed Pleasants, president of the Chamber of Commerce, appointing a taskforce to study whether or not the Chamber should start a community leadership program. The taskforce consisted of Julius Corpening as the appointed chairman, and included Jim Smith, managing partner of then Ernst & Ernst; Rich Halverson, McDonalds franchisee; Bob Deal, Piedmont Natural Gas regional executive; and Nancy Pleasants, past president of the Junior League.
The taskforce studied existing leadership programs in Nashville, Greensboro, Atlanta and Birmingham, determining the impact they had on their communities. In the fall of 1983, the taskforce recommended to the Chamber board that a community leadership program be started by the Chamber.
Rather serendipitously, Dr. Thomas K. Hearn, Jr. was recruited in the fall of 1983 to become the new president of Wake Forest University and his resume included starting the leadership program in Birmingham. Hearn became the first president of Leadership Winston-Salem, Pleasants agreed to be Vice-President and Corpening agreed to head the first program committee.
To be successful, the program committee determined the program must:
By meeting these objectives, program participants would focus on community opportunities, establish new communication networks, and would ultimately address community needs.
Hearn began marketing the benefits of the program to top corporate leadership in the city and got their commitments as participants. Pleasants raised the money to cover the budget and recruited a board of directors. Shortly thereafter, Debbie Marion was hired to be the first Executive Director of Leadership Winston-Salem and began her work out of a donated office in the Chamber. An early mission to “identify, educate and motivate” was set in place and the program launched its first class in the fall of 1984.
A History of our Programs (listed by fiscal year)
- Flagship (1985 to present) Our principal program which started our first year, Flagship is a nine month intensive program focused on our mission of educating, connecting and energizing leaders. There are eight full day sessions once a month plus pre-day activities. Each day focuses on specific aspects of the community including health care, education, human relations, arts and culture, social services, government, criminal justice and public safety. Class members also participate in an Action Learning Project which supports the needs of other non-profit organizations in Forsyth County.
- Leadership Connections (1992-2004) This four week program met once a week and was for persons new to the community or residents who wanted to become engaged in volunteer leadership. The focus was to provide an orientation to the community and to expose residents to more than 150 opportunities for volunteer leadership.
- CLAY: Community Leadership And Youth (1998-2000) This was a three week summer program held each July for high school sophomores and juniors appears. The program gave the students an opportunity to develop leadership skills and develop action projects on youth issues.
- Leadership ACCESS (1998-2003) This was a five day program held each June for professional staff of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. During the course of this five day program, educators learned about the community and met community leaders. They went behind the scenes of businesses and agencies to discover the needs of local businesses and gained insights into the importance of educators in developing an effective workforce.
- INSIGHT Winston-Salem (2012-present) This is a three-hour evening program meeting every other week for individuals in executive leadership positions. Initially there were six program nights and it expanded to seven evenings in 2023. Guest speakers make informative presentations on the history of Winston-Salem, economic factors of the city and county, education, our environment and others. Guided table discussions among the participants create opportunities to discuss ways to further shape the improvement of our city and county.