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SLP Wins Top Honors

On February 4, 2016, the Strategic Leadership Program received the top Leadership Excellence award for Best Corporate University, a category honoring internal leadership development programs designed and offered to leaders within an organization. POD Director Ujima Donalson and Training and Organizational Development Consultant Susan Templeton received the award at the national LEAD2016 conference sponsored by hr.com and held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.

LEAD Award Logo


UW Professional & Organizational Development, which oversees all aspects of SLP, including curriculum development and workshop facilitation, placed first among other top contenders in the category. The top ten nominees were ranked as follows:

  1. University of Washington Professional & Organizational Development: Strategic Leadership Program
  2. PricewaterhouseCoopers in collaboration with The Leadership Circle: Genesis Park
  3. MWH Global: Inspirational Leadership
  4. iQor: iQor University
  5. Goodwill Industries International: Goodwill Industries Executive Development Program
  6. Hilton Hotels Corporation: Hilton Worldwide University–Leadership College
  7. Borton Lawson: Borton Lawson Leadership Development Institute
  8. Personnel Board of Jefferson County: The Spark Learning Center
  9. Harris County Auditor’s Office: HC Auditors University
  10. Microsoft: Microsoft Corporate University

The nomination process included having SLP alumni complete a survey on hr.com about the effectiveness and impact of the program, which greatly contributed to our first-place ranking.

According to a spokesperson from hr.com, “With an overwhelming amount of feedback submitted for the Leadership Excellence Awards, the University of Washington's Strategic Leadership Program was ranked #1 for the Best Corporate University category. Those who have worked with the Strategic Leadership Program provided exceptional ratings based on their level of engagement, increased knowledge, skills, and performance.”

Each month, Leadership Excellence Essentials, an online magazine published by hr.com, will release a series of video interviews that feature LEAD 2016 Award winners. Mark your calendar for May, when Ujima and Susan’s interview is scheduled to appear.

Winter 2016 | Return to Issue Home