Graduate SchoolDiversity & InclusionSignature InitiativesColman Inclusive Leadership Program

Colman Inclusive Leadership Program

people standing together on a staircase smiling

The Colman Inclusive Leadership Program seeks to enroll 30-40 research degree graduate students for an immersive three-day virtual program focused on providing participants with skills and knowledge that will support their development as leaders in graduate school and beyond. The 2023 program includes doctoral students from Cornell as well as doctoral students from institutions affiliated with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s University Centers for Exemplary Mentoring and master’s degree and doctoral students from institutions affiliated with the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership programs.

Program Goals

The Colman Inclusive Leadership Program introduces students to a range of practical skills, theories pertaining to leadership, and special topics relevant for application in both academic and professional contexts. With a varied format including readings, interactive group activities, case studies, and discussions, program participants will engage in the following topics:

What is Emotional Intelligence?
Inclusion and Belonging – We All Want It, How Do We Get It?
Inclusive Leadership Frameworks
Conflict Management
Culture – Power, Awareness, and Humility
Leadership Visioning

Facilitation Team

Judith Rowe

An experienced coach, trainer and facilitator, Judy Rowe is the principal of Judith A. Rowe Consulting, LLC. She enjoys helping people and organizations to discover their strengths, define a vision and create a pathway toward that vision for success. Making an impact in the areas of social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion whenever and wherever she can is also part of Judy’s mission.

Judith has a career spanning more than 30 years with experience working with fortune 500 companies, small businesses, nonprofit and government organizations. During her 27-year career with Corning Incorporated she held a wide range of roles including product engineer, sales engineer, customer service supervisor, human resources, quality training coordinator and Performance Excellence facilitator. Judy earned dual undergraduate bachelor’s degrees in Civil and Industrial Engineering from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, and a master’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She is also certified as a Six-Sigma Green Belt, as well as StandOut^TMand People Skills^TM trainer.

Marcus Brooks

Marcus hails from New York City where he uniquely combines his formal business skill sets in leadership, organizational development, and entrepreneurship with his deep passion for human development and experiential learning. Marcus has held finance positions in insurance, debt and equity real estate finance, as well as investment banking. His career has also expanded into management roles in the outdoor industry where he has been an accomplished outdoor adventure guide, leading expeditions to the Canadian Rockies (9,000+ ft.), Peruvian Andes (15,000+ ft.) and Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft.).

Currently, Marcus is a Senior Facilitator with Cornell’s Team & Leadership Center, Senior Management Consultant with Cornell’s Department of Organizational Development & Effectiveness and the Head Nerd in Charge of Let’s Brainstorm, LLC, a strategy, leadership & finance consulting firm. His speeches and workshop topics of expertise include, crisis management, introductory to advanced negotiations, diversity (in the outdoor industry), sexual violence prevention, & emotional intelligence, to name a few.

Dr. Theoria Cason

As an educator, entrepreneur, and corporate DEI professional her commitment to lead with integrity serves as a barometer to facilitate culture change. Empowered by the resilience of her maternal elders, she identifies as an unapologetically Black woman, with an earnest desire to advocate for people who are often overlooked and underrated. As a global citizen, she makes it a point to visit at least one new country each year, to broaden her understanding of the human experience and the innumerable ways we make meaning with our piece of the world.

Dr. Cason is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of her consulting firm, Theoria In Praxis. She is a Cornell Certified Diversity Professional; and she holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Western Illinois University, and a Doctor of Education in Administration and Policy Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

Application & Program Schedule

Application Due Date: May 15, 2024 (note extended deadline)

Selection Decisions released by mid-May, 2024

Virtual Program Dates and Times: June 11-13, 2024, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET

*For Cornell students based in Ithaca, there is an additional in-person meeting on Friday, June 14, 11:30 am – 1:30 p.m. ET

Should You Apply?

You have a choice of leadership development opportunities within and beyond Cornell via multiple offerings of courses and programs. We would like you to choose the best of these options for yourself. If you are considering applying to the Colman Inclusive Leadership Program, you should know that it is an immersive learning experience. It is predicated on discovery, integration, and synthesis and not on prescriptive norms of leadership. We quote from former participants below to help you decide.

It is for you if you are seeking what these participants have described:

“Because of this program, I am more keenly aware of areas where I can be more prone to making leadership missteps. Because of this, I can now actively work on improving areas where I am far from where I want to be, and continue to put myself in situations that leverage my strengths as a leader. I especially enjoyed the visioning section and the lesson about putting up boundaries was something that I certainly needed to hear.”

“The program helped me to be more aware about myself and others. In addition, it helped me identify the areas of Emotional Intelligence in which I am strong and the ones in which I need to work more. It was also great to understand the ways on how I deal with conflict the best and the ones I need to work on more to be a better and more inclusive leader.”

The Colman Inclusive Leadership Program is for you if you are prepared to engage in intensive self-discovery with similarly committed peers from diverse identities, interests, and experiences. This program does not focus on the development and practice of specific managerial skills.

Contact

Cindy Mosqueda, Associate Director, College of Engineering Office of Inclusive Excellence: cmm522@cornell.edu

Sara Xayarath Hernández, Associate Dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement, Cornell Graduate School: grad_assoc_dean@cornell.edu

Sponsorship

In spring 2012, John and Jane Colman founded the Colman Family Endowed Fund for Leadership within 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 summer 2015, the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement (OISE) established a partnership with the College of Engineering to make the Colman Inclusive Leadership Program open to all Ph.D. and M.F.A. students from across all graduate fields at Cornell.

Graduate School