Symphony News

MSO President Finishes Two-Year Leadership Program

In 2007, MSO President Michael Beattie was chosen as one of 12 orchestra Executive Directors from across the country to participate in a two-year Executive Leadership Program (ELP) offered by the League of American Orchestras. The program concluded with a closing session on June 9-10, 2009 in Chicago.

Over the course of two years, regular sessions were held, both in person and by conference call, with program mentor Ronnie Brooks, Director of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation Center for Communities, which is headquartered in Minneapolis. Brooks oversees the Foundation's leadership development and stakeholder engagement programs and is Director of the Foundation's James P. Shannon Leadership Institute, which is a year-long intensive program for foundation and non-profit leaders.

The ELP program also put the class of 12 in touch with numerous non-profit industry leaders for workshops and discussions on major topics affecting today's orchestras. A significant component of the second year of the program was the availability of funding for leadership development for each of the participants, to be used in conjunction with his or her particular orchestra. As a result, the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra board of directors held a two-day retreat with Paul Hogle, Vice President for Development and Learning for the Atlanta Symphony, focusing on governance issues, community engagement and discussions that set the main pillars of MSO's upcoming strategic planning process.

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