PRO Leadership arranged an annual leadership conference on Saturday April 27, 2015 from 1 – 5 pm at Prince George’s Community College. Regardless of heavy rain and unpleasant weather, all scheduled speakers [The MC, keynoter, the three speakers, the moderator, and eight panelists], and volunteers showed up and served our audience who dared to come regardless of the bad weather.  Thank you all very much, once again!

We are grateful to all of our generous sponsors!

The theme of the conference was “Embracing the next generation leaders”. The MC of the event Damien Goins opened the conference with a high note, and invited the Founder and Chairman of PRO Leadership Global Inc. Dr. Assegid Habtewold to open the conference by providing an overview of why PRO Leadership was formed, and Why the conference with this particular theme was organized.

By recounting his own personal experience as a youth leader in the early 90’s- when he first began his leadership journey, Assegid shared the challenges he faced at the early stage of his leadership, and how that motivated him to help other emerging leaders so that they may not face the same challenges but rather a better chance to succeed by getting the support and resources they need. He noted that later through research, interviewing other leaders, and reading, he learned that millions, if not billions, of emerging leaders lack the moral encouragement, and the institutional support they desperately need at the early stage of their leadership. Because of that, many abandon their cause, refrain from serving their community and organization by continuing to take leadership initiatives. He also mentioned the barriers that deter many leaders from claiming their leadership birthright, which he detailed in his first book “Redefining Leadership”.

Assegid also shared with the audience the mission of PRO Leadership: To inspire, train, and mentor leaders who cannot access or afford formal leadership development resources and programs. PRO Leadership envisions ordinary individuals becoming leaders and maximizes their potential, which in turn contributes toward individual and collective success at family, organizational, national, and global level.

PRO Leadership strongly believes that leadership is the birthright of all, and its goal is to enable individuals claim this right, pursue their purpose in life, and get fulfilled in life while serving their respective family, community, organization, and nation. PRO Leadership has dual functions: To PROmote Leadership, and PROduce Leaders. Toward this end, the organization, since its establishment in 2009, has been arranging annual conferences, facilitating workshops, conducting mentoring programs, issuing magazines, posting blogs, and recording podcasts.

Highlighting the importance of the theme of the conference, Assegid built his case by reminding the audience how there are many global and local challenges chocking the progress of the human race because of lack of competent, passionate, disciplined, ethical, caring, and inclusive leaders. Assegid emphasized that guns, legislations, and demonstrations alone cannot solve the challenges the world faces in a lasting and sustainable way. These roadblocks that stood between humanity and its efforts to reach its greatness also demand raising great leaders. Unfortunately, there are 3 G leadership gaps: Generational, Gender, and Generational leadership gaps. The conference was organized to seek solutions in bridging these gaps.

The keynote speaker Dr. James Dula shared many stories and inspired the audience to play their roles in addressing the leadership challenges that affect the progress of their communities. Tara and Krystal, representing the emerging leaders talked about “Because I’m the future”. Capt. Ron Cooper talked about “Building a foundation for a brighter Future”. Mr. John Deadwyler addressed the topic “What we know vs. what we do: A call to action”.

Following those three great speeches, the audience was broken into three groups to further continue discuss the three topics led by the three speakers. The group discussions were very vibrant and dynamic. Had it not been for the time constraint, the discussions would have continued forever. At the end of the breakout sessions, each group nominated a representative and presented their practical resolutions to the whole group.

The next item in the program was a panel discussion entitled “Bridging the gap”. Lt Col. Carla Blue (Retired) moderated the panel discussion. There were two panels: Seasoned, and Emerging leaders. Members of the Seasoned Leaders Panel were Abel Gashe, Catherine Zaranis, Tom Brown, and Capt. Ron Cooper. Members of the Emerging Leaders Panel were Timothy Rodriguez, Elizabeth Lakew, William Pinkney, and Anna Aryankalayil.

At the end of the conference, PRO Leadership proposed five projects that are aimed to bridge the 3 G leadership gaps. The projects include Establishing PROs Clubs, Offering Leadership Workshops, Mentoring Emerging Leaders, Empowering Women in Leadership, and Equipping Student Leaders. PRO Leadership hopes to contribute its share in bridging the leadership gap by partnering with other stakeholders, and by brining together leaders, sponsors, and volunteers to implement these projects.

We kindly invite you to join us and let’s know your choice on how you would like to involve: As a Partner, Leader, Sponsor, and/or Volunteer?

You may send us email at [email protected] or give us a call @ 703-895-4551.