System Leader Fellowship

History Fun Fact: Our room name (Barton) is dedicated to Clara Barton, the innovative leader who founded the American Red Cross. Initially, Barton worked as a teacher for 10 years. She even opened the first public school in Bordentown, NJ. She later went on to become the first female clerk at the US Patent Office in DC. 

While Clara Barton was living in Washington, D.C. during the Civil War, she discovered that the city was unprepared for the large number of injured soldiers and lacked adequate supplies. Barton organized donation drives that eventually filled several warehouses. She then delivered these supplies directly to battlefields and personally cared for wounded men as a self-taught nurse, earning the nickname “Angel of the Battlefield.” Later, she worked with the President to locate thousands of missing soldiers.

Barton’s transformational leadership spanning many roles and career fields provides a fitting backdrop for the launch of the work we'll engage in together. 

History Fun Fact: Our room name for today (Belmont) is named after Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, who was known for challenging traditional expectations and using her influence to create new opportunities—most notably through her leadership in the women’s suffrage movement and her support of organizations that expanded women’s roles in society. Rather than accepting the limits placed on women at the time, she invested resources, built partnerships, and advocated for systemic change that would open doors for future generations.

We share a similar mission. Like Belmont, we are working to expand what is possible for our students in rural communities. By building partnerships with local industries, creating innovative pathways, and connecting education to real careers, we challenge the assumption that geography limits opportunity.

For fans of HBO's The Gilded Age, you might now Ava Vanderbilt Belmont and her family well! 

Break 

Stretch your legs, grab coffee, get some fresh air 

Lunch

Enjoy lunch with Fellows in the Belmont

Break

Stretch your legs, grab coffee, get some fresh air