About Coro
At Coro, we train leaders — people who are motivated to shape the spirit and integrity of their communities, their companies, and their country.
Coro’s mission is to strengthen the democratic process by preparing people for effective and ethical leadership.
Coro provides the tools, the lifelong network, and the practice people need to activate meaningful change at every level. Coro leaders gain a deeper understanding of how the world works, the skills to navigate tough challenges, and a network of engaged and influential peers to help them move forward.
Leadership Practices
Leadership is a lifelong practice that can be exercised by anyone, anywhere, and at any time. Coro leaders use nine key practices while looking inward, connecting outward, and moving things forward.
Coro’s approach has been time-tested — it’s an immersive cohort-based learning experience where participants practice engaging with real, complex problems facing leaders, organizations, and communities. With these essential leadership practices, Coro leaders are equipped to intentionally engage and collaborate with others across identities, ideologies, sectors, and generations.
Inward
Reflect inward to cultivate the self-awareness, adaptive resilience, and critical thinking necessary to exercise effective and ethical leadership.
Outward
Engage outward to cultivate the communication, inclusion, and collaboration practices needed to work effectively across differences.
Forward
Move a project, idea, or cause forward by using influence, impact, and engagement practices in service of a greater vision.
History
Coro was founded in San Francisco in 1942, to train young WWII veterans in civic leadership skills and strengthen our democracy. Our founders, attorney W. Donald Fletcher and investment counselor Van Duyn Dodge, launched the first class of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs in 1947.
The word “Coro” was created to reflect the founders’ vision for an innovative educational program to prepare citizen leaders. This entirely new concept warranted a new word, free from prior associations, embodying discovery and exploration.
Today, Coro has centers in five cities: San Francisco (1942), Los Angeles (1957), St. Louis (1973), New York (1980), and Pittsburgh (1999). Coro has expanded to offer leadership development programs for everyone — from high school students to postgraduates, mid-career professionals to executives. Coro’s 15,000-strong network of remarkable leaders work across differences and ignite change every day, at every level. Coro’s esteemed alumni include United States Senators, elected officials in city halls and state legislatures, and noteworthy leaders in corporate boardrooms, vital institutions, nonprofit organizations, union halls, and beyond.
