Date: September 7, 2018
Location: District Architecture Center, 421 7th St NW, Washington, DC
Led by: Teri Coates and Kate Renner

CKLDP kicked off the first official session of the year at the District Architecture Center with the new class of scholars on Friday September 7th. Teri Coates, current chair, and Kate Renner, past chair, collaborated to organize the events for the day and kicked off the afternoon by congratulating and welcoming the incoming class. Kate touched on the history of the program and it’s growth over the last five years.  Teri provided a summary of the goals and expectations for the program and outlined the schedule for the day. She spoke from experience, as a former scholar, in reminding the class that what they put into the program is what they will get out of it and challenged the scholars to dream big as they embarked on the journey together.

To kick of the leadership discussion for the afternoon, Teri introduced the first Keynote, Rachel Zsembery of Bergmeyer Associates, Inc., whose presentation focused on practicing with purpose. She emphasized the need to align your professional goals with your personal values in an effort to have the most fulfilling career. Zsembery outlined the behaviors of high trust individuals: the ability to talk straight, deliver results, and demonstrate concern among others. Scholars were presented with the idea that there is a difference between a mentor and an advocate and the idea that a successful career relies on both of these roles, often occupied by different people.

Following the keynote, the sixteen scholars were asked to present a pecha kucha presentation in 90 seconds with 3 images: one to describe themselves, one representing the type of leader they are, and an image representing the future leader they wanted to be.

After the presentations, the scholars broke up into groups of four to discuss their expectations for each session. With the help of some colored post its, each group was tasked with coming up with their ideas and expected outcomes for the overall topic and asked to report back to the class to summarize the information gathered.

After regrouping, scholars were partnered up and tasked with creating an outline for their assigned session. With the vision boards as a guide, each pairing was given the opportunity to break out and further develop their ideas.

After the brainstorming session, the advisory committee briefly introduced the scholars to the basic guidelines for graphics, the website, sponsorship, communications and online resources. Shannon Kraus concluded the leadership discussion by presenting the idea of servant leadership.  His talk, titled “Leaders Wanted. (Apply Within)” described a leader as someone who focuses on people, shares power, and puts the needs of others first.

Kraus discussed why leadership should revolve around bettering others as you better yourself, highlighting the idea that we often limit our expectations without realizing it. Following the key note, the class continued to discuss their excitement and expectations for the year over happy hour at nearby bar, Dirty Habit . If the energy and ambition of the class is any indication, it’s going to be a great year!