Edward Munoz's Chairman's Corner
Guest Columnist: Coro Board Member Lisa Kalustian, former Deputy Director of Gov. Schwarzenegger's L.A. Office
"The Magic In The Room" As a member of the Coro Board of Directors, I have the chance to periodically meet with Coro program participants. A few weeks ago, I participated in the Executive Fellows' debrief of their presentations reflecting what they learned from visiting various innovative water agencies. In typical Co ro fashion, the seminar morphed into a training session on group process and leadership. By the end of the morning, it was clear the Coro training had once again hit home - the atmosphere in the room shifted palpably from frustration to what the Fellows described as their most productive session on group dynamics to date. At one point, one of the Fellows asked me what I had brought into the room with me to make such a transformation possible. Which begs the question -- what do Fellows themselves bring with them to the Coro training table? And what do they take with them when they complete their programs? Anyone who has served as a Coro application reader or Selection Day judge would recognize many of the traits common to typical Coro candidates: intelligence, curiosity, hunger for learning, passion for change, desire to make a difference, and leadership experience. Coro training focuses Fellows on developing these characteristics, transforming them into more impactful agents in their respective organizations. But Fellows also may bring other characteristics into their programs - tendencies common in public life, but which can subconsciously impede their effectiveness. These include biases reinforced by previous experiences and assumptions about the way groups operate. Coro training works to turn these traits into the hallmarks that make Fellows stand-out leaders. Opinions and ways of operating morph into thoughtful analysis and insight supported by strong information-gathering skills; decisions based on a specific viewpoint expand to accommodate the complexity inherent in our democracy; basic school and workplace skills develop into a unique toolbox designed to facilitate and support effective stewardship; and confidence based on past accomplishments first dissolves into questioning and doubt, only to re-emerge as a more grounded version better able to withstand the rough and tumble rigors of public life. Having worked hard to earn these gifts, Coro graduates take them back out into the world to improve our civic, corporate and community leadership. So, back to the Executive Fellows. The qualities that allowed the change to happen during their seminar already existed within their group. I brought no magic with me -- only the transformative power of Coro questioning and training. Lisa Kalustian
Los Angeles FPPA '87
Board of Directors
Coro Southern California |
Coro will be holding a Silent Auction during this year's Crystal Eagle Awards Gala. With the gala quickly approaching, we are in the process of collecting items for the auction and asking for your assistance in making it a success.
By donating, you will be making a tax deductible contribution that supports Coro in providing incomparable leadership training here in Southern California. What is more, you will benefit from exposure of your company's name listed in those who attended the event. Donors will be shown on the event program, and the merchandise you give will be on display throughout the event.
Coro is seeking: sports, entertainment, and political memorabilia (autographed?), tickets to concerts, live tapings, and other special events, and gift certificates of all kinds. We welcome any suggestions for additional items.
To donate a Silent Auction item, please click here and complete the form.
To attend or take out an ad in the tribute book, click here.
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Coro CrossTalk on Politics
Held at Los Angeles City Hall
Coro concluded its popular CrossTalk series for 2010 with a program looking at the m eaning of the Midterm Elections and what is ahead for 2011. Moderated by Edward Headington, the panel included Kathay Feng from Common Cause, Allan Hoffenblum from the California Target Book and Ted Johnson from Variety's Wilshire & Washington. Former Controller and Coro supporter Rick Tuttle was in the audience. Following are links to footage, photos and podcast of the December event:
Stay tuned for the 2011 lineup of Coro CrossTalk. The next CrossTalk will be in Downtown L.A. (venue TBA) on March 30th at 9 a.m. The topic is "Politics & Leadership in Los Angeles."
If there is a topic and/or speakers you would like to hear, please contact Edward Headington at EHeadington@coro.org.
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The Origins of Coro
What Does It Mean to You?
 I was at a fundraiser not long ago and introduced myself to a group of people. One of them asked, innocently, C.O.R.O., what do the letters stand for. I explained, patiently, that it wasn't an acronym--just a made up word. He knew he had me, smiled and asked, "You mean Don Fletcher couldn't come up with anything better that that?" He had worked with Fletcher for several years.
In the spirit of coming up with something better than that, I have finally found the real origin of Coro, a misspelling of the original word Koro. The source is a new book called The Last Speakers by K. David Harrison, highlighting the importance of preserving endangered languages and their cultures. He and a colleague were investigating two little known languages in Arunachal Pradesh, a state at the extreme eastern edge of India. In the process they discovered a heretofore undocumented and "utterly distinct" language called Koro. "The Koro are (bilingual,) thoroughly mixed in with other local peoples and number perhaps no more than 800. . . Nearly all Koro speakers live in mixed families and households where some members do not speak Koro but Aka or some other tongue. This means Koro speakers must make a strategic effort in deciding with whom, when, where and under what circumstances to speak Koro. (4WH)  Simply put, its speakers have linguistic pride; they value their ancestral tongue enough to make an effort to speak it. Speakers we interviewed, admitted they tend to use it only in private, and personal encounters with another person who speaks it, and never in the presence of nonspeakers. This behavior contributes to the somewhat hidden nature of Koro and maintains its secrecy within the community."
You can draw your own analogy. I would simply say that explaining Coro to those who have not experienced it is not easy, but somehow we continue to make the effort to keep alive the language and culture of Coro.
John Greenwood
P.S. Be glad the founders did not opt for the Koro spelling. Google the word to see some other meanings! |
Support CORO: Make A Tax-Deductible Donation to Coro Southern California! 1000 N. Alameda St., Ste. 240Los Angeles, CA 90012(213) 346-3218 or www.CoroLA.org
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Coro Fellows Speak with Beutner
Public Affairs Fellows
 Coro Public Affairs Fellows recently sat down with Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner to talk about leadership and challenges in Los Angeles. Below is a comment made by Beutner about Coro.
"Coro aims to instill participants with skills that are transferable and needed in all institutions, whether public, private or nonprofit. Having worked in both the public and private sector, I can attest to the value of leaders operating with diversity of perspective, intellectual curiosity and commitment to create positive change in their communities. I commend Coro and their participants for their willingness to give back to Los Angeles, and longstanding reputation of helping us solve some of our most difficult challenges." - Austin Beutner, First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive Officer, Mayor's Office of Economic and Business Policy.
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Did You Know?
Some Famous Coro Alumnae
Coro has been training men and women in a variety of programs for decades. Below are just a handful of women graduates from over the years--provided to us from Jim Schoning:
- U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, San Fransico, FPPA, '56
- U.S. Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, San Francisco WP, '79
- California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (also a former California state legislator), Los Angeles CI, '89
- California State Senator Carol Liu (also a former state Assemblymember), Los Angeles CI, '89
- Former Chief of Staff to Los Angeles Mayors Richard Riordan (R) and Antonio Villaraigosa (D) & current L.A. Harbor Commissioner Robin Kramer, Los Angeles FPPA '76
- Former Reagan U.S. Department of Commerce Undersecretary Donna Tuttle, JLLA '77
- Late Washington Post U.S. Senate Correspondent Helen Dewar, San Francisco FPPA '55
- Executive Directo, Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, Susan Herrera, Los Angeles FPPA '77
- California State Assemblymember Holly Mitchell, Los Angeles FPPA '87
- Pittsburgh, PA City Councilmember Natalia Rudiak, Pittsburgh FPPA '02
- Graduates from Coro's Leadership Southern California program who were re-elected in this week's election:
- West Hollywood City Councilmember Abby Land
- Community College Trustee Board Mona Field
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To Catch A Dollar (TCAD)
Premieres Nationally on March 31st
 Coro LSC alumnus Lawrence Lokman invites the Coro community to the national premiere of TCAD on March 31, 2011 via simulcast to hundreds of theatres around the U.S.
Following the film, a panel featuring Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Kiva.org President Premal Shah and special guest financial powerhouse Suze Orman, and moderator Maria Bartiromo, will explore the issues covered in TCAD and the opportunities presented for taking action. They will also walk audience members through the plan for our campaign, and make a clear call to action to audiences around the country. The event will also include special video appearances by Hugh Jackman, Matt Damon, Russell Simmons, and others.
For more information and to learn more about how to get involved, contact Kari directly at khayden@grameenresearch.org. Ticket sales begin on Friday, March 4th. To find a theater near you, go to www.tocatchadollar.com.
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We Want to Hear From You
Please send your thoughts, ideas and suggestions for inclusion in future newsletters to Edward at EHeadington@coro.org.
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March President's Letter
Coro Continues Forward March
March is an exciting month at Coro. As I  | | Fellows Labor Presentation at the UCLA Labor Center |
write this, the L. A. and San Francisco Coro Fellows have returned from their visit to Sacramento for Coro's state government focus week. After interviewing and shadowing legislators, capitol staff,administration appointees, lobbyists and journalists, the 24 Fellows put together a mock Appropriations Committee hearing where they had to debate real bills and put forward a balanced budget. Coro's Ex-Officio Director of Training*, Jim Schoning, raved about the presentation as follows: 'I confess I haven't seen as fine a job during my staff tenure in 8 or 9 Sacramento Weeks, four Albany weeks and 3-4 Washington D.C. weeks - nor since I've attended most Sacramento Week presentations over the past two decades.) A fine mix of a solid design and some unusually able, mature working parts. It left us re-fueled." Their next challenge is in May, when for the first time in several years, our Fellows will join classes from other Coro centers and spend a week looking at federal affairs in Washington D.C. Coro has just reviewed applications from some very talented aspirants for the upcoming Fellows program. Thirty six finalists have been chosen for our selection day on March 19, hosted by Kaiser Permanente. Thank you to the many volunteers who read applications or will serve as selection judges. On another front, beginning in February Coro renewed our youth leadership programming for students in five charter schools throughout Los Angeles. To do so, Coro has partnered with After-School All-Stars, the organization that evolved out of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Inner City Games Foundation. Since these are newly formed schools, the Coro curriculum becomes a way of building student leadership and service traditions. The first year of our Executive Fellows program continues, as discussed in the Chairman's Column. The interaction between the Executive Fellows and the Public Affairs Fellows has added richness to both programs. Of course we are excited about our 36th annual Crystal Eagle Awards dinner on April 21, honoring Speaker John Perez, recent Chamber of Commerce President Fran Inman, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero. A number of City Council members have already committed to attend. There is more information about our Gala in this newsletter. We want everyone from the Coro family to join us. Finally, after seven months as the director of the Southern California office, I have been delighted to hear from lots of alumni and supporters who want to reconnect with Coro. We plan to offer lots of opportunities to get involved, including an Alumni breakfast on April 1. Invitation to follow. Feel free to call me with your ideas. John Greenwood President 213-346-3217 or JGreenwood@coro.org * I have to admit that I just made up this title for Jim Schoning. But it certainly fits!
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Coro Public Affairs Fellows
Labor Placements Conclude with Presentation at the UCLA Labor Center
The 53rd LA Fellows Class have now completed their Non-Profit, Political Campaign, Labor and Government, field assignments. The difference between the Fellows program and traditional academia is that every graduate will have spent a month during each rotation with the leadership of a particular business, labor, government, media and community organization. Our partners in these fields share with their assigned Fellow the realities of their work-including their goals and challenges. We are grateful to the following labor organizations for their time with the Fellows this past month:
- Andrew DeBlock, L.A. Cnty. Fed. Labor
- Antoinette Grier, UFW & Foundation
- Corinne Tapia, Teamsters Local 952
- Elana Goldstein, American Fed. of State, Cnty., & Mun. Emp. Local 36
- Farid E. Ben Amor, Writers Guild of America West
- Jessica Gray, UCLA Labor Center, California Construction Academy,
- Katharine Young, Engineers & Architects Association
- Leticia Muņoz, L.A.U.S.D.
- Patrick Atwater, S.E.I.U. Local 721
- Thalia Roussos, UTLA
- Thuy Huynh, Int'l Longshoremen Workers Union, Local 63
- Tim Golden, Maynard Consulting Services
Here is some content from their "Out of Focus: Rethinking the Labor Debate" presentation at the UCLA Labor Center:
Proposals Now Being Accepted for Fellows Projects
This can be either a group or individual project at $7,000 for each participant. The projects have been very impressive throughout the years--often setting in moti on game changing results for the organization and the Fellow.
Each year the Fellows culminate their Coro experience with a meaningful and impacting individual project. For a $7,000 per Fellow project contribution to Coro, the sponsoring individual or agency has the exclusive services of a soon-to-be graduated Fellow for a 6 week period from April 18 to June 2, 2011
For inquiries and additional information, contact Kelly LaMar at klamar@coro.org. It can also e be considered a tax deductible donation.
Fellows Media Placements (2/24 to 3/10)
- Andrew DeBlock, L.A. Times
- Katharine Young, The Planning Report
- Antoinette Grier, Talk About Parenting with Shirlee Smith, Inc.
- Leticia Muņoz, KSCI-TV
- Corinne Tapia, KABC-TV
- Patrick Atwater, The City Maven
- Elana Goldstein, 89.3 KPCC-FM
- Thalia Roussos, Univision/TeleFutura LA
- Farid E. Ben Amor, KNBC
- Thuy Huynh, Sugerman Communication Group
- Jessica Gray, La Opinion
- Tim Golden, GOOD Magazine
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Coro Calendar
Mark It Today!
Has it been a while since you re- engaged with Coro? Have you talked with Coro graduates from other years and programs? Are you looking to get back in touch with the Coro community?
Stay tuned for upcoming Coro mixers, CrossTalk and annual events. For more information, contact Kelly LaMar at KLaMar@Coro.org or call (213) 346-3216. - 3/10/11 Coro Fellows finish their Media Placements
- 3/15/11 Coro Fellows Media Presentation with Conan Nolan
- 3/19/11 Coro Selection Day
- 3/30/11 Coro CrossTalk on Politics & Leadership in Los Angeles
- 4/21/11 36th Annual Coro Crystal Eagle Awards Gala
- 6/10/11 Coro Fellows Graduation
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Awesome Alumni
Recognizing the Coro Family
Congratulations
- Coro Fellows Alumnus Ben Golombek will soon become Deputy Chief of Staff to Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes. He has served as Communications Director to Controller Greuel for the past few years. Congrats to Ben (and his wife, Coro alumna Meghan Loper)
Where Are They Now?
- John Stern, Associate General Counsel, International Affairs, Verizon Business, NY FPPA '85
- Priscilla Cohen, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Citizen Schools, LA FPPA '83
- Lisa Ulrich, Chief Learning Officer, Citizen Schools, NY FPPA '85
- John Kobara, Chief Operating Officer, California Community Foundation, LA FPPA '79
- Ian Campbell, Principal, Abernathy MacGregor Group, LA FPPA '77
- Fred Terrell, Vice Chairman, Credit Suisse Group, LA FPPA '77
- Michael Gunning, Vice President, Personal Insurance Federation of California, STL FPPA '84
- Scott Harvey, Acting Director, California State Department of General Services, LA FPPA '67
- Meredith Michaels, Vice Chancellor, Planning & Budget, UC Irvine LA FPPA '80
- Jud Clark, Founder & Chairman, State Net, SF FPPA '63
- Marlene Garcia, Deputy Chancellor for Legislation, California Community Colleges LA FPPA '82
- Rick Stamberger, Founder & Publisher, SmartBrief, LA FPPA '82
- Fred Nathan, Founder & Publisher, Think New Mexico, STL FPPA '84
Coro Shout-Out
 Associate Justice Marvin R. Baxter, SF FPPA '63. Justice Marvin R. Baxter of the California Supreme Court was born January 9, 1940 in Fowler (Fresno County), California. He grew up on the family farm and was educated in the local public schools. As a high school student he was active in student government, the student newspaper, and athletics. He graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in Economics. He was active in student government and served as Commissioner of Athletics (1960-61) and Student Body President (1961-62). Honors received at Fresno State included an Outstanding Senior Award.
Baxter was selected from nationwide competition as a Coro Foundation Fellow in Public Affairs (1962-63). As one of twelve fellows assigned to Coro's San Francisco office, he worked with corporations, labor unions, legislative and executive bodies, governmental agencies, community organizations, and political campaigns and thereby gained valuable practical experience in the arena of public affairs.
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Coro W.I.G.O. Interview Project
Find Out What Is Going On
Every Coro graduate knows the acronym W.I.G.O. as it is one of the oldest tools in methodology. In that spirit, Coro is interviewing two to three  alumni each month to hear their thoughts on what Coro means to them, their favorite Coro memory and what role Coro can play in "Training Tomorrow's Leaders."
This issue features interviews with Next month will feature Jack Fine and Oscar Gonzales. If you would like to be interviewed or want to suggest someone, please email Edward at EHeadington@coro.org. |
Coro Stays Focused on Water
Executive Fellows Update
From Coro CrossTalks to the Annual Coro Surfacing the Solutions Luncheon, your local Center for Civic Leadership had addressed the complex issue. In late January, the Coro California Fellows--Los Angeles and San Francisco  combined--did a two day tour of the San Joaquin Delta. Sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Executive Fellows deepened their understanding and saw first-hand the challenges facing the Delta.
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Coro Southern California Center for Civic Leadership
1000 N. Alameda St., Ste. 240Los Angeles, CA 90012(213) 346-3218www.CoroLA.org
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In Partnership With 
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