Program Components

About 90 hours of leadership and management development programming from September to May meeting once-to-twice per month for full- or half-day sessions. You can also expect about 10-12 hours spent outside of sessions on Issue Day group work and individual assignments. The Lead LA Fellowship is broken into five components:

• Kickoff – Begins the cohort-building process and Issue Day planning and sets the stage for what is to come across the 9-month program.

• Opening Leadership Retreat – Mandatory, three-day, two-night off-site retreat where the cohort engages in intensive skills foundation laying and relationship building.

• Logic Study – A pressure-test of the cohort’s leadership skills to highlight your individual and collective default leadership behaviors, while exploring the unique dynamics of a part of Los Angeles.

• Leadership Forums – Full-day facilitated professional, management, and leadership development skill-building sessions.

• Issue Days – Cohort-led explorations of a regional civic challenge to stretch your professional and leadership development in a real-time setting. The Logic Study and Issue Days program components serve as a vehicle for you to exercise leadership and management skills in a real-time setting, practicing their professional development in an experiential way, while also enhancing your knowledge of the region.

Program Outcomes

1. Prompts you to engage in deep professional and leadership reflection.

2. Empowers you with time-tested professional, leadership, and management skills, tools, and frameworks.

3. Invites you into a community eager to collaborate with, learn from, and support each other.

Curricular Components

• Adaptive Leadership

• Diversity, Anti-Racism, and Inclusion (DAI)

• Effective Communication

• Effective Inquiry and Critical Thinking

• Giving and Receiving Feedback

• Group Effectiveness

• Interpersonal Leadership Styles™

• Managing Diverse Teams

• Mindfulness Practices

• Peer Consultancies

• Project Management Tools

• Public Narrative Framework

• Self-Awareness and Self-Management Tools

• Stakeholder Analysis and Coalition Building

Schedule a call with Coro to learn more.

Coro values the representation of diverse perspectives, identities, experiences, and world views; as such, Lead LA Fellowship cohorts reflect the make-up of the region, representing a wide array of backgrounds, beliefs, and identities.

Ideal Lead LA Fellowship candidates…

• live, work, and/or serve communities in the Greater Los Angeles area

• are committed to deepening their professional leadership capacity

• are currently in or would like to transition into leadership or management roles or positions

• are looking to expand their professional and personal network

• view leadership as an ongoing practice versus a title or role

• are interested in learning more about the region, its challenges, and how collaboration can lead to impact and change

• are able to conduct programming in-person and meet the program attendance requirements

Schedule a call with Coro to learn more.

Multi-Perspective

Be ready to engage productively with different perspectives and ready to engage in personal reflection.

Intentional Ambiguity

Signature characteristic of Coro programming is generating intentional ambiguity, which works to highlight your defaults, ignite your learning, and support you to lead and manage through uncertainty. 

Learn by Doing

Coro views leadership as a practice; be ready to learn by doing with sessions as opportunities to lay the foundation; you will gain the most by taking the skills, tools, and frameworks and practicing/adapting them in your professional roles. 

Vulnerability and Psychological Safety

As a necessary component of multi-perspective learning, Coro views vulnerability as a critical leadership attribute essential for unleashing learning, building authentic and meaningful connection, and for holding spaces that are psychologically safe as a precursor to adaptive, innovative collaboration. You should be ready to contribute to building a psychological safe cohort environment.

As a leadership and professional development institute, Coro programs, including Lead LA, aim to expand the leadership and professional capacity of our program participants in order for them to have the networks, skills, and knowledge to drive impact in their work and communities.

The Lead LA Fellowship is…

• A place to experience and appreciate diversity of experiences and viewpoints and engage in productive conflict and discourse

• A place to identify personal professional strengths and areas for growth and practice skills building

• A space to build a collaborative network of peers eager to work together – both during the program and afterward – to better understand how to address challenges facing the region and expand your toolkit of frameworks to enhance your capacity to do so

Schedule a call with Coro to learn more.

Career Benefits

The program creates opportunities for you to bring your professional work into the program.

• Personal Leadership Commitment – You will name a specific area of growth you plan to practice over the course of the program.

• Peer Consultancy & Exploring Tough Interpretations – Two adaptive leadership modules that enable you to understand your own resistance to change, (providing a glimpse into opportunities for enhanced impact and effectiveness), and bring into the program real-world professional challenges you are seeking to address.

• Leadership Style Assessment – You’ll engage in deep reflection on your professional strengths and opportunities via the Interpersonal Leadership Styles™ assessment.

• Sharing Your Impact and Vision – A concluding activity in which you will synthesize the program’s impact and set commitments to continue your capacity-building.

• Expanding Your Network – Through both the cohort-building journey and the Logic Study and Issue Days program components, you will have an opportunity to build meaningful relationships with other regional professionals and their organizations. Following completion of the program, you will join a Coro community totalling over 15,000 cross-sectoral leaders and professionals.

Program Impact

Coro’s unique approach to leadership and professional development training delivers both immediate and long-lasting capacity-building benefits by expanding your skills, networks, and knowledge.

• 94% agree that their participation increased their leadership skills.

• 95% say they are likely to apply the tools and principles gained through their participation.

• 97% say they are likely to stay connected to those they met through their participation.

• 99% of past participants agreed that their participation in Lead LA expanded their professional networks.

Benefits for Employers

Coro’s programs deliver deep impact (see more in the “Impact & Testimonials” tab above and in the Program Benefits Guide) at a highly subsidized professional development rate. Lead LA enables organizations to invest in their aspiring and established managers to deliver on the organization’s mission.

Supporting team members – either financially and/or with the time and space to participate fully in Lead LA – yields strong organizational benefits by:

1. Increasing the skills of employees in critical positions that can be incorporated departmentally and instilled in their direct reports.

2. Demonstrating your commitment to the employee, increasing their feeling of engagement, which often leads to higher productivity, loyalty, and retention; and

3. Motivating all employees by signaling that leadership and a commitment to their work is rewarded by the organization.

Connect with Coro to discuss an organizational partnership and nominate a member of your team for Lead LA.

Program Cost

Tuition is $5,750 (subsidized from $9,500 thanks to the generous support of our sponsors). Participants may incur additional incidental expenses such as transportation and parking costs.

Organizational Assistance

Many participants secure financial support from their employers to cover the program fee. We encourage you to speak with your employer about potential support utilizing the Program Benefits Guide to guide your conversation.

Participant Scholarships

Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, Coro is able to provide partial, need-based, scholarships. Applicants seeking a scholarship must complete the relevant questions at the time of application. While Coro strives to provide financial support to all accepted candidates demonstrating need, scholarships are not guaranteed.

Tuition Discounts and Payment Plans

Coro also makes available a range of tuition discounts. Each participant can only receive one discount, even if eligible for multiple (excluding the single, full-payment discount). Coro will assign the highest value discount applicable. Coro also makes available payment plans for tuition payments being paid by a participant.

Our 75-year history gives us one of the most diverse alumni networks in the country — 15,000 graduates and growing — spanning sectors, perspectives, and geography. At Coro, the learning doesn’t stop when your program ends. Coro alumni status gives you access to:

• The Resources – Coro alumni have access to AlumniFire, Coro’s Job Board (Coro Classifieds), & Coro’s alumni-only LinkedIn page, where they can network, find job opportunities, fill roles at their organizations, and learn from one another.

• The Exposure – Coro brings together decision makers across sectors to share perspectives and discuss the future of our region at a number of annual events, many of which are exclusive to Coro alumni. Joining the Coro network ensures that partners stay connected with forward-thinking leaders at all levels and across all sectors, and provides you exposure to key decision makers.

• The Credentials – Coro has partnered with Credly by Pearson™ to issue and maintain digital badges. As authenticated, certified, and individually-awarded badges, you’ll be able to showcase your unique professional, management, and leadership development capacity-building in real-time with colleagues, current and future employers, and your network.

• The Network – Alumni have powerful networks to ignite change and continuous support for tackling professional challenges through their Coro family. Program participants directly engage with numerous leaders over the duration of their experience. This, coupled with the over 15,000 Coro alumni, creates a unique opportunity for alumni to quickly expand their social capital.

Lead LA Fellowship Graduates’ Organizations

• ACLU of Southern California 

• Actors’ Gang Prison Project, The

• Advocates for Human Potential

• Alliance College-Ready Public Schools

• American Jewish Committee

• Animo Pat Brown Charter High School

• Annenberg Foundation

• Arizona State University

• ArtCenter College of Design

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles

• Best Best & Krieger LLP

• Better World Group

• BeyGOOD Foundation

• Bird

• Bridges Intergroup Relations Consulting

• Broad Center, The

• Buchalter

• BuroHappold Engineering

• California Endowment, The

• California Resources Corporation

• California State Assembly, Office of Assemblymember Rudy Salas (AD 32)

• California State Senate, Office of Senator Senator Lena Gonzalez (SD 33)

• California State University, Bakersfield

• California State University, Northridge

• Cause Communications

• Cenergy Consulting, LLC

• Center for Policing Equity

• Central City Association of Los Angeles

• Chrysalis

• Citizens of the World Charter Schools

• City of Glendale, Glendale Library, Arts & Culture

• City of Los Angeles, Board of Public Works

• City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs

• City of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation

• City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works

• City of Los Angeles, Harbor Department

• City of Los Angeles, Office of Councilmember Bob Blumenfield (CD 3)

• City of Los Angeles, Office of Councilmember Joe Buscaino (CD 15)

• City of Los Angeles, Office of Councilmember Mike Bonin (CD 11)

• City of Los Angeles, Office of Councilmember Paul Koretz (CD 5)

• City of Los Angeles, Office of Councilmember Paul Krekorian (CD 2)

• City of Los Angeles, Office of District 14

• City of Los Angeles, Office of the Mayor

• City of Los Angeles, Personnel Department

• City of Long Beach

• City of San Fernando

• Civic Innovation Lab

• Children’s Institute

• College Track

• Community Coalition

• Community Partners

• County of Los Angeles, Center for Strategic Public-Private Partnerships

• County of Los Angeles, Department of Arts and Culture

• County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services, Office of Diversion and Reentry

• County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Social Services

• County of Los Angeles, Office of Supervisor Holly Mitchell (LA 2)

• County of Los Angeles, Office of Supervisor Sheila Kuehl (LA 3)

• Creative Artists Agency

• Dignity Health

• Discovery Cube Los Angeles

• Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.

• Downtown Women’s Center

• ECMC Foundation, The

• Edgility Consulting

• Empowerment Congress

• Fiducia CP

• FlixBus

• Ford Mobility

• Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP

• Gartner

• Gather Consulting

• Gensler

• Google

• Guidehouse

• Hatch Collection

• HIAS

• Hispanas Organized for Political Equality

• Ichor Strategies, Los Angeles

• iMentor

• Jesse Gabriel for Assembly

• J.L. Edmonds Project

• John Wayne Cancer Institute & Pacific Neuroscience Institute, Providence Health System

• Kantara

• KIPP LA Schools

• LA Election Project

• LA Forward

• LA Metro

• LA Promise Fund

• LA’s Best

• LA Coalition for Excellent Public Schools

• Lombard Circle, The

• Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator

• Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

• Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation

• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

• Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority

• Los Angeles Philharmonic Association

• Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health, The

• Los Angeles Unified School District, Office of Boardmember Nick Melvoin (LAUSD 4)

• Lyft

• Manifest Works

• Marathon Communications

• Mariposa Development

• Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

• Mirman School

• Morgan Stanley

• Moulton Niguel Water District

• Move LA

• Multicultural Learning Center

• My Friend’s Place

• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

• National University

• Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County

• One Table

• Para Los Niños

• Partnership for Los Angeles Schools

• Pepperdine School of Public Policy

• Phoenix LA, The

• PlantPrefab

• Prism

• Remember Us

• RethinkEd

• River LA

• Sequoyah School

• SidePorch

• Snap, Inc.

• SoCalGas

• Southern California Edison

• Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink)

• State of California, Department of Finance

• Stratiscope

• Students 4 Students

• Student Movement of Justice and Opportunity

• Swipe Out Hunger

• Taft College

• Taproot Foundation

• The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

• TreePeople

• Tzunu Strategies

• United Airlines

• University of California, Los Angeles Alumni Affairs/Alumni Association

• University of California, Los Angeles, Hispanic American Periodicals Index

• University of California, Los Angeles, Luskin Center for History and Policy

• University of California, Los Angeles Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs

• University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education

• University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts

• University of Southern California, Shoah Foundation

• U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

• U.S. Department of Justice

• Verizon

• Walt Disney Company, The

• West LA Community Coalition

• Whittle and Associates

• World Health Organization

Organizations listed do not constitute an endorsement of the Lead LA program or Coro.