Leadership Wilmington & Work on Wilmington COVID-19 Update
Leadership Wilmington
As many of you may know as Leadership Wilmington Alumni, the months of March and April are especially busy for the class. Not only do they have two full-day sessions covering Growth & Development in March and Politics and Government in April, the countdown to the community’s largest day of service, Work on Wilmington, is quickly approaching.
Unfortunately for the Class of 2020, this exciting time has been derailed due to COVID-19 social distancing and stay at home orders. I wanted to take the time to share how we plan to still provide the class the full Leadership Wilmington experience and, perhaps more importantly to them, still execute mini-Work on Wilmington projects throughout the year.
On March 17 the class was scheduled to meet at Live Oak Bank and UNCW’s
MARBIONC Center. Presentations were to include a panel discussion on personal and professional development by Apiture’s Alison Brien and Brooks Folk and Live Oak Bank’s Susan Janson and Claire Parker. Claire Parker would also present with Jessica Trichel on the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Awareness) Employer’s Roundtable on diversity and inclusion in Wilmington’s workplaces.
The class would also hear from the chairs of the Wilmington Chamber’s African American, Latinx, and Veterans Business Councils on growth in minority and veteran-owned businesses. (The Latinx and Veterans Business Councils are in early stages of development. Please contact Meaghan Lewis at
lewis@wilmingtonchamber.org for more information on these Business Councils.)
Barb Biehner and Spence Broadhurst, co-chairs of the Partnership Advisory Group (PAG) planned on providing an update to the class on the process, next steps and considerations of the PAG. This is a conversation that may be rescheduled virtually for the benefit of Leadership Wilmington and the Wilmington Chamber membership. Stay tuned.
Randall Johnson at NC Biotech was going to provide the class with an overview of the biotechnology industry in North Carolina and Southeastern North Carolina prior to Karin LeMaire leading us on a tour of the MARBIONC Center. The vision of MARBIONC is “to provide a space for university researchers, private firms, and government agencies to collaborate and work together in creating workforce and economic development for the next generation of biotechnology products and solutions.”
Tomorrow, April 7
th, would have been the last session of Leadership Wilmington covering Politics & Government. Thankfully the class will still meet virtually to discuss Work on Wilmington and for a virtual happy hour! We’ll be working with city and county officials to reschedule a portion of this session for later in the year. Additionally, the Class of 2020 will be invited to these sessions next year.
Work on Wilmington
The Class of 2020 is working closely with the Work on Wilmington sponsors, volunteers and nonprofits to reschedule projects throughout the year. It is important to the class and our donors that funds are still distributed to our nonprofit community even though volunteers are unavailable on April 25. As we work to reschedule many of the projects, we’re encouraging volunteers to utilize
Share Cape Fear to identify other volunteer opportunities. All nonprofits are also encouraged to register on the site and list needs and volunteer opportunities. We look forward to highlighting the distribution of Work on Wilmington donations and announcing rescheduled projects.
I want to extend a personal thank you to the Class of 2020, Work on Wilmington volunteers, donors and project sites for your continued patience, flexibility and understanding as we work to modify Work on Wilmington considering the latest COVID-19 guidance. We know Work on Wilmington is a day of service many look forward to each year. We’ll plan to be back stronger than ever in 2021 and look forward to having many of you join us!
