Alstom Employee Engages Community through Local Leadership Program

On May 17, Bobby Hicks, a Project Manager with Alstom’s U.S. Boiler business, graduated from the 10-month ‘Leadership Chattanooga’ program, which seeks to develop the management skills of ‘people of promise’ from the city and prepare them for prominent business, cultural and political roles.

As part of the program, participants were assigned to teams, who were then tasked with executing projects at local public schools. The team Bobby was assigned to included individuals from multiple organizations who went to work preparing students at Bess T. Shepherd Elementary school for their future by developing a Student Leadership Academy.

The team brought students together on a weekly basis to learn everyday applications for the leadership skills they explored through the program. In addition to these regularly scheduled gatherings, students participated in a variety of extracurricular opportunities in the community. Among those was a service day, where participants completed various school beautification and improvement projects.

Bobby, commenting on the success of the program, said, “Too often we underestimate or do not use the talents and resources that we have. Sometimes it's simply being willing to listen or to show someone that you care. Through Leadership Chattanooga, we were given the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of some really amazing children.”

The extracurricular activities culminated at the end of the year with Leadership Day, where Bobby joined other local business leaders to deliver presentations about their roles in the community, and Leadership Academy participants shared their accomplishments throughout the year with the entire school.