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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Tony Vieira UMass Dartmouth 508-999-8744 September 3, 2004 Leadership SouthCoast Program Kicks-off with Two Day Retreat Leadership SouthCoast (LSC) is a non-profit organization with a mission to organize and design a leadership development program to advance continuous improvement in the SouthCoast of Massachusetts. This program will encourage 26 emerging leaders from the area to join together and broaden their understanding of the impact of their decisions on the SouthCoast and its future. Through mutual learning, LSC participants will be able to embrace the diversity of community development efforts. A two-day retreat will kick off the program Thursday and Friday, September 9 and 10 at the Newport Marriott. The first day will include presentations on leadership, creativity and an analysis of the SouthCoast. Invited speakers include Sarah J. Gross of the Richard Florida Creativity Group and Dr. Clyde Barrow of the Center of Policy Analysis at UMass Dartmouth. There will also be a welcoming dinner reception with the Founders and Board of Directors of Leadership SouthCoast, local representatives Robert M. Koczera (Acushnet), Michael J. Rodrigues (Westport) and Philip Travis (Swansea), and the LSC Class of 2005. Ms. Gross’ presentation will be based on Creativity Theory and Creative Cities Model. She will talk about economic and social systems that tap human creativity to build a more humane and sustainable economy. She will then relate these theories and models to the SouthCoast and how this region can build a creative culture. Dr. Barrow will examine business, education and economic demographics and statistics of the SouthCoast. He will identify major business clusters and growth sectors, as well as provide an analysis of business vitality, job growth, and wage and income trends. He will then present his findings of the population growth of this region. This day will conclude with a panel of members who have participated in a leadership development program. Panelists include Mary Lynn Lenz, President/CEO, Slades Ferry Bank, Jim Litsey, Attorney with Partridge, Snow & Hahn, Bill Kennedy, Publisher, The Standard Times, and Mary Sadlier, Vice-president, Advertising Ventures. The second day welcomes two new speakers who will speak on diversity issues and political stories. There will be an interactive panel discussion on perceptions and stereotyping, cross-cultural understanding and valuing individual differences. This panel will lead into a diversity dialogue with Xavier Eduardo Pelaez. Mr. Pelaez has extensive experience in working with major companies and businesses regarding diversity issues in the workplace. His session will be about the prevalence of prejudice and its impact. He will also discuss the reframing of diversity. Friday’s keynote session introduces Morton Dean, broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He will talk about the many political stories he has covered over the years and recant the many different leadership styles he has encountered. Mr. Dean is one of the best known, most highly regarded and widely traveled correspondents in the new profession. He is a solid writer, a gifted storyteller, and his face is among the most recognizable on the American scene. These two days are packed with panels and presentations led by dynamic speakers. Participants should leave with a renewed energy level to begin their leadership training over the next nine months in order to better serve the SouthCoast region. - END - <=== back a page / back to top |