The Graduate Leadership Formation Certificate program cohort would like to thank everyone who came to this year’s Red Winged Leadership Award ceremony in May.  If you couldn’t make it, or would like to watch portions of the event again, we are posting the videos from the ceremony below.

Award Finalist - Chris Fontana, Global Visionaries

Award Finalist - Shana Greene, Village Volunteers

Award Finalist - Danna Johnston, Danna K Johnston Foundation

Red Winged Leadership is a program conceived a year ago by the Graduate Leadership Formation Certificate cohort, a group of Seattle University MBA students specializing in leadership development.  The Red Winged Leadership Award ceremony held in the spring intends to honor leaders committed to embracing the unique intersection where leadership, business acumen, and social impact overlap.  In its second year, Red Winged Leadership has already changed the perception of what it means to lead for 40+ students directly involved in the program. A growing band of supporters are also emerging from the business community, university faculty, alumni, and other students.

What is Leadership?

Defining leadership beyond a dictionary reference is not a simple task.  The ‘10-‘11 GLFC cohort spent several intense hours debating this topic and arrived at the following definition. Leadership is the art of inspiring and empowering others as a catalyst to guide towards a shared vision with integrity and empathy and awareness. One commonality that became clear from the discussion is individuals hold varying aspects of leadership dearer and are inspired by different experiences and types of leaders.  

What is Red Winged Leadership?

Red Winged Leadership is unique by focusing on individual leaders making an impact on the community.  The award is about bringing extraordinary stories to light to recognize community contribution and inspire others.  Red Winged Leadership is the story of last year’s winner Rahwa Habte who created a safe community space at her restaurant Hidmo Eritrean Cuisine in Seattle’s Central District.  It is the story of Dylan Higgins who co-founded SaveTogether.org to inspire people to help others achieve their goals through shared savings.  It is the story of Linda Ruthruff who runs Street Bean Espresso, a coffee shop that employs youth transitioning from street life.  It is the story of our GLFC cohort at Seattle University striving to become better leaders, redefining leadership, and the hope of where future cohorts will take this effort.

What is Your Leadership Story?

In addition to keeping our supporters updated with the happenings of the Red Winged Leadership Award ceremony we have begun posting inspirational stories and quotes to our followers on Facebook and Twitter.  Share your leadership story or what leaders inspire you on our Facebook page wall at http://facebook.com/redwinged or send an @reply to our Twitter account at http://twitter.com/redwingedleader.  You can read more about Red Winged Leadership on our website at http://seattleu.edu/albers/redwinged and also see our new promotional video!