Impactful Leadership Certificate Course Held at SMC

by Maura Wolf, Adjunct Professor, Next Move Co-Founder | December 7, 2023

This summer, twenty-five members of the extended Saint Mary’s College community joined together to engage in a six week Impactful Leadership course offered through KSOE’s Leadership Center.

The course was taught by Maura Wolf, long-standing Adjunct Professor in KSOE’s Master of Arts in Leadership program and Co-Founder of Next Move, a company whose mission is to support people to reach the goals that matter most to them.

Participants in the class included KSOE alumni such as Andrea Hall, who works at Google, and has stayed connected to programs offered through the SMC Leadership Center. In addition, a group of SMC staff members were sponsored through Human Resources to participate. The intent was for them to cultivate connections across the campus with colleagues, work on personal and professional goals, and learn new practices for navigating the complexity of today’s work world. Another course participant was a leader in the local Lamorinda community who signed up for the class to give herself some space to think about the next step in her own development. She had taken a community-based leadership class at SMC years ago, and returned for a refresh and some inspiration.

A local donor played a role in offering scholarships for people who live and work in Moraga to participate.

The course incorporated themes such as Clarifying Values & Vision; Integrating the Many Parts of Life; Setting Goals and Expanding Your Network. It was highly interactive, built upon an action inquiry process called The Next Move Method. Manjit Sappal, Executive Director of Campus Safety and Transportation, said this about the course:

"I had a great experience. The course focused on acting with intention and focusing on having clear goals, being persistent, and using your knowledge and skills to act with intent. The course helped me think about scaling goals, and the small steps and actions that lead to bigger leaps towards those goals. We also worked on a life map and I spent some time reflecting on my life journey and not only how I got here, but what makes me, me."

The KSOE Leadership Center and Next Move are planning on offering another Executive Education course again later this winter. Keep your eyes out for details!

To learn more about Next Move, click here.

To learn more about leadership programs at SMC, click here.