Program Develops Inclusive Leaders
July 15, 2024
By Katya Hrichak
From the classroom to the boardroom, the lab to the office, leadership skills are important for graduate students who want to succeed professionally. Thirty-three graduate students improved their leadership knowledge during the 2024 Colman Inclusive Leadership Program, held virtually June 11 through 13.
The three-day immersion program introduces students to a range of practical skills, theories, and special topics relevant to both academic and professional leadership contexts through readings, interactive group activities, case studies, and discussions.
“Developing leadership skills is crucial to building trusting, long-lived relationships and an engaging and accommodating work environment that accomplishes short- and long-term goals,” said Steph Tran, a doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology and one of this year’s participants.
Tran’s says the program demonstrated to her the importance of emotional intelligence to being an effective and inclusive leader. Understanding one’s own emotions as well as those of peers, colleagues, or students can be key to approaching difficult situations, as opposed to using logic alone.
“However, finding something that works one time does not mean it will work the next time. What it takes to be an effective leader changes across different scenarios, dynamics, and cultures. Developing leadership skills should be a life-long process,” Tran said.
Mayleen Cortez-Rodriguez, a doctoral candidate in applied mathematics, found an exercise where participants verbalized what inclusion and belonging looks, feels, and sounds like to be impactful.
“I have often found myself in situations where I didn’t feel like I belonged, but I have also been in spaces where I felt a strong sense of belonging. However, until the Colman Inclusive Leadership Program, I never put much thought and reflection into why I felt belonging (or lack thereof) in these different spaces,” she said. “I now have better language to express inclusion and belonging, which will help me not only communicate my own needs but also help me better understand the needs of others.”
For the second consecutive year, the Colman Inclusive Leadership Program included students from Cornell as well as students from institutions affiliated with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s University Centers for Exemplary Mentoring and the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership programs.
“In all areas where I’m a leader, from my program, to my church, to my work, I want to be prepared to put forth my best,” said Cortez-Rodriguez. “It won’t always be perfect, but it will always come with the promise that I’m continuing to develop critical skills to be a better leader. There’s always room to grow, and there’s always something to learn.”
John and Jane Colman founded the Colman Family Endowed Fund for Leadership with the College of Engineering Office of Inclusive Excellence to establish the Colman Inclusive Leadership Program for Ph.D. students in engineering and other related STEM fields in spring 2012. In 2014, the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement established a partnership with the College of Engineering to make the program open to all Ph.D. and M.F.A. students at Cornell.
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