J.R. Locke Wraps Up 28 Years At United Way

HAMPTON ROADS
J.R. Locke, the Director of the award winning United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR) Project Inclusion Board Governance Leadership Development Program, recently announced his retirement.

Locke, the program’s one and only Director throughout its entire 28-year history, leaves the  highly effective program he helped launch and guided to national acclaim by United Way Worldwide as one of three Best Practice programs for Diversity in the nation. Specifically, Project Inclusion was created to identify, recruit, train and refer minority members of the community to serve on the board of directors and committees of UWSHR certified agencies.

Under Locke’s direction, over 1,000+ Alumni have completed the program and graduated from Project Inclusion.

“We have been successful in providing non-profit organizations with volunteer leaders who have elevated the impact and efficiency of non-profit organizations throughout the region,” Locke says of Project Inclusion.

“This journey has been quite rewarding in working with many of you throughout the years and building a legacy of leadership and board governance training that have created opportunities for personal and professional growth for our participants,” Locke told Project Inclusion stakeholders as he departed.

The Project Inclusion Program was launched in February 1997 when the Minority Advisory Council (now known as the Council on Diversity and Inclusion) was created by the United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR) Board of Directors.  Its primary purpose was to increase minority participation in the UWSHR system.

In 1997, seeking 35 enrollees, the first Project Inclusion Board Governance Leadership and Development Program class was held with an astounding100 applicants applying. Thirty-five participants were selected and comprised the first class. Over the next 28 years, the Program evolved from six weeks to 14 weeks of rigorous board governance leadership and development training and averaged 30 participants each year.

Over the span of 28 years, Locke oversaw the graduation of more than 1,000 participants from Project Inclusion. The graduates formed the Project Inclusion Alumni Association in 2002 that has served as a viable support arm for Project Inclusion, recruiting candidates each year for the program. Project Inclusion is one of United Way Worldwide’ s longest running leadership and development programs in the nation and is recognized by many as Hampton Roads’ premier board governance leadership and development program.

Project Inclusion provides participants with leadership and management development skills that are beneficial to any non-profit or company. These valuable skill sets are beneficial to all community-based organizations, civic league groups, churches and other organizations that have board governance responsibilities. Virginia Governors have recognized the value of Project Inclusion with the selection of candidates to diversify Virginia’s state boards and commissions.