Leadership Academy Class Selected

The North Carolina Bar Association’s Leadership Academy Class of 2019 has been selected. Sixteen young lawyers will participate in the ninth installment of the leadership training program.

The mission of the Leadership Academy is to help young lawyers become effective leaders in their communities, including the legal profession, their firms, legal departments or other workplaces, other organizations with which they are associated, their local, state, national or even international communities, and any other environments where lawyers regularly have calls or opportunities for leadership.

The Leadership Academy was implemented in 2011 during the tenure of President Gene Pridgen under the direction of Past-President Norfleet Pruden. NCBA Past-President Shelby Benton and Roberta King Latham, former chair of the Young Lawyers Division, serve as co-chairs of the NCBA Leadership Academy initiative.

The NCBA is again partnering with Level Up Leadership of Raleigh to provide this year’s training.

Members of the NCBA Leadership Academy Class of 2019 are:

Kara Brunk, Raleigh
Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, LLP

Christina Cress, Raleigh
Nichols, Choi & Lee, PLLC

Claire Duff, Raleigh
Wake County Attorney’s Office

Casey Ferri, Charlotte
Conrad Trosch & Kemmy, PA

Katye Griffin, Raleigh
Fox Rothschild LLP

Matthew Houston, Raleigh
K&L Gates LLP

Vince Hyatt, Candler
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Mary Kathryn Kurth, Raleigh
Edwards Kirby

Madison Mackenzie, Raleigh
NC Real Estate Commission

Marissa Meredith, Greensboro
Elon University School of Law

Larissa Mervin, Davidson
Legal Aid of NC

Elizabeth Morales, Chapel Hill
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.

Rachel Nicholas, Durham
Schwartz and Shaw, PLLC

Amish Patel, Raleigh
Williams Mullen

Jasmine Pitt, Clemmons
Bennett Guthrie Latham, PLLC

Allen Trask III, Wilmington
Ward and Smith, P.A.

The Leadership Academy provides an intensely interactive and participatory leadership training program. The 16-lawyer class size is designed to facilitate interaction and an intimate learning environment. Unlike some other bar-sponsored leadership programs, this does not emphasize substantive information about the profession or the justice system.

Instead, the goals of the program are to help young lawyers to:

  • Increase personal self-awareness, including strengths and areas for development;
  • Develop and refine leadership skills, including inspiring confidence, creating a clear and compelling vision, building trust, communicating effectively, and enhancing team performance;
  • Improve their ability to influence others; and
  • Use the leadership skills they learn in order to “make a difference.”

It is expected that graduates of the program will not only become better leaders, but also become better lawyers.

The course of training will be in five sessions beginning on Friday and Saturday, March 1-2, at the N.C. Bar Center in Cary. Participants will also volunteer in the 4ALL Statewide Service Day at WRAL-TV in Raleigh.

Sessions will also be held April 3 and May 14 at the N.C. Bar Center, June 11 at various downtown Raleigh locations, and June 20-23 at the NCBA Annual Meeting in Asheville.