Nazareth College’s School of Business and Leadership (SBL) has launched the Next Generation Leadership program, which was developed through a unique collaboration of regional employers committed to helping the Rochester region develop, attract, and retain top talent. It will equip emerging leaders with the necessary skills to grow businesses and strengthen communities. Starting with its three founding companies, the Next Generation Leadership program will provide organizations with customized leadership training that develops outstanding and emotionally intelligent leaders.
M&T Bank, The Bonadio Group, and Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP teamed up with Nazareth to help create the program, recognizing the need to prepare young professionals to build resilient, inclusive teams capable of tackling regional challenges. By building a deeper bench of collaborative, service-focused and leadership-ready talent, it’s designed to deliver an impact not only for individual employees and their employers, but also for the region’s entire business ecosystem.
School of Business and Leadership Dean Ken Rhee says it’s unusual – and helpful – for multiple companies to collaborate in employee development programs.
“Employee talent development, retention, and sustainability is a big topic these days,” said Rhee. “Nazareth is working closely with the business community to develop programs that will serve their needs. We are contributing to regional economic growth.”
Nazareth’s Next Generation Leadership is an executive education certificate program that allows companies to support the success of employees and the organization by making an investment in employees’ leadership skills. M&T Bank dispatched its Chief Learning Officer Rob Phillips to work with Nazareth as they built the program, sharing his expertise and providing inputs on the program’s design. In addition to learning opportunities, the training program will facilitate new connections among rising leaders to foster ongoing regional collaboration.
“Talent is the key differentiator in the modern economy,” said Dan Burns, M&T Bank Regional President. “For Rochester to compete and win in the race for relevance among creative-class talent, we need to work collaboratively to build programs that develop homegrown talent and grow our culture of learning and innovation to attract talent new to our region. The Next Generation Leadership program is an important next step, bringing employers together to address workforce needs facing our entire region. Nazareth has been an outstanding partner in creating this program, and I’m grateful to The Bonadio Group and Woods Oviatt Gilman for sharing our commitment to this effort.”
“At The Bonadio Group, our people are our top priority,” said Bruce Zicari, chief executive officer at The Bonadio Group, a top 50 CPA firm. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to get a group of our team members involved in this incredible program where they will grow as leaders, individuals, and client service professionals, and we appreciate Nazareth’s commitment to advancing leadership and development in our community.”
Through the Next Generation Leadership program, Nazareth College’s School of Business and Leadership will work with organizations to provide customized leadership development programs to meet their key needs.
“When it comes to leadership, we typically find that only 10 to 15% of leaders or managers are identified as outstanding,” said Dean Rhee. “What does this say about the rest? One of the objectives of this program is to help employees become competent and emotionally intelligent leaders with outstanding leadership performance.”
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