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2011 News Articles › NCBA Leadership Academy Charter Class Selected
NCBA Leadership Academy Charter Class Selected
Article Date: Monday, February 14, 2011
The inaugural class of the North Carolina Bar Association Leadership Academy has been selected. Sixteen young lawyers were chosen from an impressive pool of 79 applicants.
Those 16 lawyers are:
- Dennis L. Boothe, Raleigh
- Alison G. Bradshaw, Clinton
- Niya T. Fonville, Morganton
- Benjamin M. Gallop, Elizabeth City
- Chelsea B. Garrett, Boone
- Edward W. Griggs, Winston-Salem
- Jason T. Grubbs, Kernersville
- Hilton T. Hutchens, Fayetteville
- Frankie T. Jones, Jr., Greensboro
- Harrison A. Lord, Charlotte
- Charlotte A. Mitchell, Raleigh
- D. J. O’Brien, Greensboro
- Stacy M. Race, Raleigh
- Robert C.M. Rountree, Wilson
- Caitlin A. Ryland, Raleigh
- Sarah Grace Zambon, Fletcher
“The level of enthusiasm for this program, and the size and quality of the applicant pool, is simply inspiring,” said Norfleet Pruden, a former NCBA president who is chairing the Leadership Academy initiative. “The relatively small class size is an important part of the structure of the program, but it also meant that we had to turn away many well-qualified applicants – four out of every five who applied – in selecting a 16-member class that is a representative cross-section of our bar.
“The good news for those who were not selected is that we plan to make this an annual offering. We also need to continue to explore other ways to more broadly provide leadership training opportunities for our young lawyers, as there is clearly a demand for it.”
The new leadership training program for young lawyers, designed by the NCBA’s Young Lawyer Initiatives Task Force in cooperation with the Center for Creative Leadership, will hold its first session on Friday, March 4, which coincides with the fourth annual 4ALL Statewide Service Day.
Lawyers participating in the Leadership Academy will take part in the 4ALL event at the Raleigh call center.
“We believe that lawyers serve a vital, and perhaps unique, role, as leaders in our society,” said NCBA President Gene Pridgen. “And yet traditionally there has been little or no leadership development training for lawyers.
“The NCBA is proud to offer this opportunity for our young lawyers. We are confident that graduates of this program will be better equipped to serve as leaders for our profession and the public.”
The mission of the Leadership Academy is “to help young lawyers become effective leaders in their communities, whether their communities be the legal profession, their firms, legal departments or other workplaces, other organizations with which they are associated, or their local, state, national or even international communities, or any other environments where lawyers regularly have calls or opportunities for leadership.”
Session dates are March 4-5, April 1, April 29, May 20 and June 24.
The first four sessions will take place at the N.C. Bar Center in Cary. The May 20 session will be held at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, with the final session taking place on June 24 at the NCBA Annual Meeting in Asheville.
The NCBA Leadership Academy is sponsored by Lawyers Mutual.