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E&SL Report

This fall's D. Abbott Turner Ethics and Servant Leadership program inaugurated an interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate student leadership forum; shaped internship, social entrepreneurial, and dissertation fellowships; increased collaborations with Violence Studies and Theory Practice Learning; continued to develop relationships with Campus Compact and Rhodes College Service-Learning initiatives; and conducted a public forum to discuss corporate ethics with James Blanchard, CEO of Synovus Financial Corp.

Community and Student Leaders' Forum

E&SL partnered with Hands On Atlanta for its pilot leadership program at Emory: "Vocation, Leadership, and the Common Good: The Ethics and Servant Leadership Community and Student Leaders Forum."

Currently in its fifth month, the forum gathers Emory students bimonthly to explore vocational development, servant leadership formation, and community commitments. To maximize peer teaching, community mentoring, and student agency, forum size was limited to twenty-five students who were selected from forty applicants. Each session is designed in partnership with community servant leaders and social entrepreneurs from across metropolitan Atlanta. Sessions alternate between skill-building workshops and reflective, philosophical conversations with local community leaders. Jessica Kirkwood of Hands On Atlanta spearheads the skills sessions, and E&SL staff, together with Mary Sue Brookshire, coordinate the reflection sessions.

The Forum's Servant Leader Exemplar sessions began with Bill Bolling, founder and director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and Pat Turner, executive director of the Atlanta Children's Museum. Both shared the founding visions for their work: Bolling told the story of how he got the Food Bank "off the ground"; Turner discussed ways she sustains her energy and activism. Both also shared the values and leadership principles that guide their daily work.

The first skills-based workshop session included guests Carlton Sapp, director of planning and evaluation, United Way of Metro Atlanta; Thomas Reuter, founder of Samaritan House; and Pat Marsteller, Professor of Biology at Emory and Director of the Hughes Science Initiative. Facilitators provided in-depth examinations of project development and evaluation in various nonprofit arenas. Sapp provided a clear view of work as an evaluator who plots funding allocations for nonprofits. Reuter spoke of the challenges of creating and directing a homeless services agency, where job assistance is provided through offering voice mail, showers, clothin, and employment counseling.

Marsteller offered a perspective on science project development in academic institutions. She noted that while her programmatic initiatives have received funding and institutional credibility, such accomplishments have emerged only after years of persistence.

The December skills session addressed nonprofit fund-raising. Facilitators included Melissa Devereaux, Director of Development at Hands On Atlanta; Alicia Philipp, Director of The Atlanta Community Foundation; and Dolph Goldenburg, Director of Trinity Community Ministries.

Forthcoming skills-based session topics include advocacy, community organizing/volunteer recruitment, and leadership models.

Fellowships

The program will offer three categories of fellowships, with the first beginning in Summer 2000. The Summer Servant Leadership Fellowship will provide funds for graduate and undergraduate students interested in summer work with nonprofits and public interest groups. The Fellowship requires attendance at an introductory orientation, a post-reflection seminar, and involvement in a leadership mentoring group.

The Social Entrepreneur Fellowship offers financial and supervisory support (in a collaborative program with Hands On Atlanta) to undergraduate students interested in designed service projets. Fellows are required to participate in Hands On Atlanta training programs.

The Public Service Thesis and Dissertation Fellowship will offer financial assistance to graduate and undergraduate students interested in focusing their senior theses or Ph.D dissertations on themes of public service, the public intellectual, servant leadership, or ethics in leadership. Students receiving these fellowships will be asked to mentor new entrants into the Ethics and Servant Leadership program.

Collaborations

To help organize Emory's multiple fronts of service and leadership work, E&SL is solidifying partnerships with Emory's Violence Studies and Theory-Practice Learning programs in an effort to streamline and coordinate summer internship programs. Currently in a planning phase, the alliance aims to provide jointly sponsored and facilitated training sessions for students entering internships in service and nonprofit sectors.

To foster institutional cohesion in service and citizenship, E&SL continues to develop institutional links with Campus Compact. Stacia Brown was named by University Secretary Gary Hauk an additional Emory representative to the Compact. Through Campus Compact we have created interinstitutional connections, advertised our directorship vacancy, and located possibilities for professional development among Center staff.

[ Posted by Stacia Brown at February 1, 2000 09:30 AM | More Ethics and Servant Leadership articles ]

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