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What can our region learn about transit from northern Virginia?

Around 50 regional business, elected, and transportation leaders will find out this week as part of the Regional Transportation Alliance's leadership briefing and field visit. 

Attendees will:

• Gain first-hand experience and insight about transit innovations including bus rapid transit and commuter rail—primary components of the bipartisan, network-based Wake Transit plan and elements of approved plans in both Durham and Orange counties
• Receive briefings from Virginia staff and tour the Crystal City Potomac Yard Transitway—the D.C. metro region’s first bus rapid transit system with dedicated lanes—as well as Virginia Railway Express commuter rail and the Capital Bikeshare system
• Learn about a new self-driving electric shuttle known as “Olli,” which incorporates the IBM Watson artificial intelligence platform.

Seeing commuter rail, bus rapid transit, and bike share in a fast-growing, competitive market like northern Virginia will help local leaders better understand key elements of our regional transit future. This experience is particularly timely as our region prepares for an important transit referendum vote this fall in Wake County.

The Leadership Briefing and Field Visit begins Tuesday, June 28. See a detailed agenda here, and find out what attendees are experiencing in real-time with the hashtag #RTAtour16 on Twitter and Instagram. Follow @RTATriangle for the latest transit information! 

From police ride-alongs and touring Central Prison to learning about the impact of education and the media, Leadership Raleigh participants get in-depth, behind-the-scenes insight into all aspects of our community.

On Tuesday, June 28, 96 class members will graduate as part of the program's 31st and 32nd classes.

"These classes are made up of dedicated and visionary leaders who all shared a desire to make our community a better place,” said Chamber Board of Directors Chair Jill Wells Heath. “I’m excited to see how their contributions will continue to benefit our community and how their leadership will impact our region in the years to come.”

We expect big things from both groups, and we're excited to see what they have in store for the greater Raleigh area in the future!

Astra Ball, Junior League of Raleigh, Inc.
Alban Barrus, Highwoods Properties, Inc.
Daniel Behanna, PNC
Nancy Bromhal, Habitat for Humanity of Wake County
Scott Cooper, Brasfield & Gorrie LLC
Katherine Eberhardt, Capital Area Soccer League
Tom Fagley, Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP
Mike Ferguson, Barnhill Contracting Co., Inc.
John Gardner, K&L Gates LLP
Patrice Gilmore, Holt Brothers Construction, LLC
Steven Goldsmith, Red Hat, Inc.
Neil Gray, JDavis Architects, PLLC
Natalie Griffith, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce
Michael Harrison, SunTrust Bank
Maria Hernandez, SPCA of Wake County
Amy Hilliard, Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
Heather Hooper, Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina
Kacy Hunt, Williams Mullen
Jennifer Jones, Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP
Smith Jordan, Newcomb and Company
Alicia Jurney, Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers, LLP
Tara Kinard, Wake County Medical Society - Community Health Foundation
Jamie Knowles-Griffiths, American Cancer Society
Greg Kuruc, Kane Realty Corporation
Jennifer Martin, Shop Local Raleigh/Greater Raleigh Merchants Association
Sara Merz, Advocates for Health in Action
Katherine Meyer, Manpower
Leigh Morrison, Red Hat, Inc.
Larry Moye, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP
Shana Overdorf, Raleigh/Wake Partnership to End and Prevent Homelessness
Ann-Stewart Patterson, CBRE|Raleigh
Katie Pollara, UNC REX Healthcare
Anna Claire Price, York Properties, Inc.
Sallie Ransom, YMCA of the Triangle, Inc.
Kathryn Rigsbee, Grant Thornton LLP
Trey Rivers, Red Hat, Inc.
Brendan Rodden, Raymond James & Associates
Carl Sanders, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
Stephanie Sanders, Poyner Spruill LLP
Amy Schroeder, State of North Carolina
Steve Sefton, Danis Construction Company
Raynor Smith, Brady Trane Services, Inc.
Ben Steel, Empire Properties
Phillip Strickland, First Citizens Bank
Nora Sullivan, Ellis & Winters LLP
Blake Thomas, Avison Young
Daphne Thompson, Angel Oak Creative
Justin Vieira, Ipreo
Liz Watson, WakeMed Health & Hospitals
Dennis Wiener, The Umstead Hotel and Spa
Mary Willoughby, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina

Ginger Ackiss, The Bainbridge Companies
Danny Baker, MetLife
Patrena Benton
Jess Bechtold, Grant Thornton LLP
Leigh Bleecker, Duke Raleigh Hospital
Charles Britt, RSM US LLP
Blair Brooks, CPI Security Systems
Tinu Diver, NC State University
Sara Drake, Viamet Pharmaceuticals, Inc.®
Cydney English, The English Garden Florist
Melissa Everitt, Resolvit
Jim Freeze, Carroll's Kitchen
Brett Frenier, Carolina Business Interiors
Bijal Gami, Local Government Federal Credit Union
Jason Golz, Credit Suisse
Todd Hancock, Hodge & Kittrell
Leah Knepper, French|West|Vaughan
Kim Lehman, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
Hannah Lennon, Emergency Reconstruction
Matt Lilley, Alexander Family YMCA
Catherine Locke, North Carolina State Parks
Caroline Mackie, Poyner Spruill LLP
Erika Martin, Night Hawk Security and Consulting, LLC
Robert Mason, First Tennessee Bank
Chad McCullen, Young Moore and Henderson, PA
Mike Muoio, View Dynamic Glass
Stephanie Perri, Clean Design
Kim Phillips, Bank of America
PJ Puryear, Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP
Steve Rehnborg, Dialpad
Stacey Rodriguez, Wells Fargo
Cam Rosenow, Wallace Regner Group at Morgan Stanley
Katherine Ross, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP
Jenny Royer, United Way of the Greater Triangle
Ashton Smith, Citrix
Stacy Smith, Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Inc.
Don Springer, North State Bank
Robert Sunukjian, PEG Contracting
Abbie Szymanski, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce
Chad Tate, Rodgers Builders, Inc.
Allen Taylor, Hatteras Funds
Lee Wagner, Elliott Davis Decosimo
Jim White, Shanahan Law Group
Jeff Whitley, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP
Glenn Young, Summit Hospitality Group, LTD

Leadership Raleigh is a nine-month program consisting of eight one-day sessions held in the greater Raleigh area with an opening weekend retreat. The program emphasizes three overall components: team projects, community orientation, and enhancing leadership skills/styles.

Due to overwhelming interest in the program from business leaders across the community, the Chamber launched two classes of the program in 2015. This format will remain going forward.

While recruiting has ended for the 2016/17 classes, we encourage anyone who is interested to visit www.leadershipraleigh.org or email leadershipraleigh@raleighchamber.org for additional information!

By Aolani Donegan
Social Media Specialist
The News & Observer Publishing Co.





Walking into a packed room of young professionals at 7:30 a.m. who are focused on their cell phones seems like an everyday occurrence ... right? 
 
Millennials on their phones? What's the big deal?

The latest YPN morning at the PNC arena was unlike any other. For the first time, the program required that we download an app and perform a "Strengths Finder" assessment prior to the keynote speech given by Doug Bacon of Throwing Words. Bacon is a Gallup-certified strengths coach, and the assessment offered insights into some of our top five leadership qualities. You could hear a pin drop in the room as people took the 30-minute assessment. It probably set a record for the quietest YPN event ever. 
 
After everyone had the chance to complete the assessment, Bacon began to explain what our top five meant and how we could use this information in a work setting. He asked people to stand as he called out some of the most common traits. It only took a quick glance around the room to realize that the best talent and some of the most diverse young professionals were in that room. The app provided definitions and he offered his twitter handle @throwingwords and email address (doug@throwingwords.com) for people who wished to explore their top five further. He presented examples of how the various personalities can work together and how individuals can thrive with a knowledge of their specific rankings. 
 
One of my biggest takeaways after attending the event was the importance of building diverse and dynamic teams. Life is boring when everyone is the same, and the best teams thrive when people bring a bevy of talents to the table. I seek that in friendships, networking opportunities, and while at work.
 
I was happy to see "positivity" as my No. 1 strength. That confirmed what I am probably most known for—if you need a team cheerleader with a positive attitude—I'm the woman for the job. I also have strategic and activator tendencies but I enjoyed seeing a nice mix of relationship building qualities mixed in with strategic qualities.The assessment will help us focus on being better employees, friends, and team players. 
 
I would highly recommend that folks download the app and take the assessment (it's worth the $14.99), and for businesses looking for tips and strategies for building strong teams, check out Throwing Words.com.

The Chamber’s Young Professionals Network provides events every other month that engage professionals ages 23 – 39 from member firms to help them become more competitive in the business arena, establish contacts, and grow personally through a variety of program topics.

Learn more here, or visit the YPN Facebook page here.