Business Alliance Leadership Team
The Business Alliance Leadership Team is a leadership group that creates and supports school-based business alliances at Wake County middle and high schools. This Leadership Team is made up of business and education leaders from across Wake County.
The Business Alliance Leadership Team helps implement School-to-Career initiatives at the school level. These businesses network with hundreds of large and small businesses to meet the identified needs of the school. Organizationally, the Leadership Team operates as a sub-committee of the School-to-Career Council of Wake County. The Leadership Team supports 38 alliances and over 500 members.
Vision and Slogan
The vision statement for the Business Alliance Leadership Team is "local businesses making a difference in education." Over time, an unofficial slogan - "ideas and expertise, not cash" - has become popular to describe the particular relationship alliances have with their schools.
Organization
The Business Alliance Leadership Team is a leadership group that supports and develops school-based business alliances. Every middle and high school is affiliated with a business alliance. A volunteer chair works with the superintendent or his designee to provide the overall leadership for the Leadership Team. In addition, each of the school system's six regions is represented on the Leadership Team by both a volunteer regional chair as well as an area superintendent from the Wake County Public School System. The school system supports a full time Business Alliance Coordinator to provide support in creating and sustaining business alliances as well as providing data and feedback to the leadership team.
Which Business Alliance is in which region? (PDF 20 KB)
A key concept in the function of the Business Alliance Leadership Team and business alliances is that of peer-to-peer accountability. Each leadership function within the organization is aligned with a key business volunteer and a key school volunteer. Throughout the year, it is the role of educators to work with their fellow educators and volunteers to work with volunteers to meet WCPSS goals. The following chart shows the business alliance leadership structure and peer-to-peer accountability.
Peer-to-Peer Accountability in Business Alliances
| Business Volunteer | Educator |
|---|---|
| Business Alliance Leadership Team Chair | Superintendent |
| Regional Chair | Area Superintendent |
| Business Alliance Chair | School Principal and CDC |
| Business Alliance members | School faculty |
The Business Alliance Leadership Team is primarily concerned with creating and sustaining healthy business alliances at every Wake County middle and high school. Input on the direction alliances should take, and ideas for activities, comes from the Wake County School-to-Career Council.
Although the Business Alliance Leadership Team provides important support, the bulk of alliance activity occurs at the school level. This is important because school-based alliances are responsive to each school's specific needs, and draw upon alliance members' specific talents to meet those needs.
The following figure shows the organization of the Business Education Leadership Council and school-based business alliances in Wake County.
Business Alliance Leadership Team Responsibilities
Regional Chairs
- Attend semi-annual Business Alliance Leadership Team meetings in August and January.
- Attend the STC Volunteer Celebration in the fall.
- Convene alliance chairs, principals and CDCs for at least one regional meeting to check progress, share best practices and discuss barriers and restrainers to progress.
- Attend one meeting per year of each alliance in a given region.
- Communicate successes and challenges to Business Alliance Leadership Team Chair and/or Business Alliance Coordinator.
- Communicate with alliance chairs and area superintendents on a regular basis.
- When possible, recruit for and promote business alliances within professional and civic organizations.
- Assist in starting new alliances in a given region.
Area Superintendents
- Attend semi-annual Business Alliance Leadership Team meetings in August and January.
- Attend the STC Volunteer Celebration in the fall.
- Attend and participate in regional alliance meetings.
- Attend one meeting per year of each alliance in a given region.
- Communicate successes and challenges to Business Alliance Leadership Team Chair and/or Business Alliance Coordinator.
- Communicate with principals and regional chairs on a regular basis.
- When possible, share alliance successes and challenges with the Wake County Public School System administrative cabinet and principals.
Business Alliance Leadership Team Members
Jerry O'Connor | Business Alliance Leadership Team Chair | |
Tom Oxholm | Past Chair | |
Donna Hargens | Superintendent's Representative | |
David Rockefeller | CTE (Career and Technical Education) Director | |
Ann Hooker | Northern Area Superintendent | |
VACANT | Northern Regional Chair |
|
Lloyd Gardner | Southern Area Superintendent | |
Wanda Denning | Southern Regional Chair | |
Julye Mizelle | South Central Area Superintendent | |
Chris Randall | South Central Regional Chair | |
Danny Barnes | Eastern Area Superintendent | |
VACANT | Eastern Regional Chair |
|
Kathy Chontos | Western Area Superintendent | |
Don Shupe | Western Regional Chair | |
Jonibel Willis | Central Area Superintendent | |
Adrienne Lumpkin | Central Regional Chair | |
Brent Henry | CPET (Career Pathway Employer Team) Chair | North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service - Wake County Center |
Bill Seyler | School-to-Career Council Chair | |
Ralph Smith | Education Committee Chair | |
Candace Wolfenbarger | Liaison | |
Chris Droessler | School-to-Career Coordinator | |
Megan Kirkpatrick | Business Alliance Coordinator |
Wake County Public School System programs are staffed and offered without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, citizenship status, political affiliation, or disability.