Why We’re Here
The world needs more people who can work and lead across differences.
Our Mission
At Coro, we believe that meaningful change comes from collaboration: people in business and communities, schools and unions, government and nonprofits, working together to find creative solutions and strengthen our democracy.
Our mission is to train, support, and connect leaders to foster a thriving democracy and tackle society’s biggest challenges together.
Coro graduates gain a deeper understanding of how the world works, the leadership skills to improve it, and a network of engaged and influential peers to help them reach their goals. Working together, we fuel positive change across the country.
Our Approach to Leadership
Coro participants learn by doing. Guided by our experienced faculty, participants actively engage with their colleagues to disrupt old patterns, build skills, and develop new ways of thinking. Check out our Inward, Outward, Forward framework for leadership here! Our programs focus on developing and enhancing six core practices for 21st century leadership:
- Self-awareness
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Inclusion
- Collaboration
- Influence
While Coro programs vary in length and duration, they also share these common features:
- Highly interactive, small-group seminars
- Activities that sharpen self-awareness, analysis, and communication skills
- Assessments for leadership practices and styles
- Access to senior leaders for in-depth interviews and learning
- Opportunities to develop relationships and build networks
- Group projects
- Experienced faculty members
- Post-program Coro Alumni events and opportunities
- When appropriate, participants share their learnings and experiences with the community.
Check out our most recent reports to the community.
Our History
W. Donald Fletcher and Van Duyn Dodge met in 1940, while working on a political campaign in San Francisco. Fletcher was a recent Stanford Law School graduate and Dodge was an investment counselor and founder of San Francisco investment firm, Dodge & Cox. While working side by side, the two had deep discussions about the political process and what they could do to improve politics and government. They believed that in order to effect change, they would need to cultivate a new generation of leaders – and they developed a vision of educational discovery that would create more citizen leaders. That vision led to the creation of the Coro Foundation on October 12, 1942.
In the wake of World War II, Fletcher and Dodge took an innovative approach to leadership development, training young veterans to help our democratic system of government work more effectively and on behalf of its citizens. Over the intervening decades, our work has grown and diversified to include programs for youth, recent college graduates, and mid-career professionals. Now called Coro Northern California, we continue to represent discovery and exploration as we grow and support emerging leaders.
