First interterm Leadership Academy earns 80 percent satisfaction rate
Published: April 13, 2021 / Author: Amanda N. Jacobson
Mendoza’s first-ever virtual interterm Leadership Academy received an 80 percent satisfaction rating among graduate student participants
Eighteen candidates from the Master of Nonprofit Administration (MNA) and Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) programs experienced Mendoza’s first-ever virtual Interterm Leadership Academy – an experiential learning opportunity featuring four workshops that included alumni speakers, a qualitative leadership assessment deep-dive, and two professional development sessions.
More than 20 hours of faculty and staff planning went into creating this pilot experience spearheaded by Joan McClendon, Associate Director of Experiential Learning and Leadership Development, providing candidates more than 15 hours of workshopping during Mendoza’s 2021 Spring Interterm, from March 22-25.
Special guest Nicole Williams – CEO of the team-building consultancy firm Rhythm to You – helped candidates kick off their academy experience with an interactive hand-drumming exercise.
One of the participating MNA students said: “What a refreshing start to this academy! Nicole was such a ray of sunshine to my day. Nicole’s approach to teaching and communication was a great reminder that there is light and playfulness within all of us. This session was not only something that was helpful in the moment, but provided key takeaways for how we all can conduct ourselves as leaders. […] We were all able to show some humility by dancing around and drumming, we practiced our sense of humor and developed trust quickly by showing that we were all in it together doing something that may be uncomfortable for the first time.”
Mid-week sessions included insights from Mendoza alumna and guest speaker Voris Vigee (MNA ’20) – Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana’s first Black female president and CEO – as well as workshops on cultivating executive presence and fostering a culture of acceptance and inclusion in the workplace.
The spring 2021 Interterm Leadership Academy concluded with a session on values-based leadership led by professor Joe Holt and guest alumnus Keith Butler (MNA ’16), an attorney and social justice entrepreneur based in Oklahoma.
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