Sanford recently hosted 36 Hours at Duke, a conference that brought together 20 alumni and community members, each paired with a current student in the Enterprising Leadership class , to discuss leadership, values clarification, and opportunities to create small benefits in the lives of those around them. The goal of the programming, according to Hart Leadership Professor Tony Brown, is to connect leaders at different points in their professional and personal development, allow for the creation of meaningful relationships, and facilitate important conversations about how to be effective, strong-hearted leaders.

This fall, the focus of the weekend was “Leadership Map 2.0.” The Leadership Map is a project that all of Professor Brown’s former students have completed, and one his current students are working on at present. The weekend was kicked off by a speech from Gunther Peck, the Director of the Hart Leadership Program, about his involvement in voting rights advocacy and voter registration efforts. Professor Peck said canvassing and voter registration are things he “can’t not do,” things he feels compelled to do “by the urgency of now.” This concept framed the rest of the weekend, and participants were consistently asked what they themselves couldn’t “not do.”

The program ran Friday, October 26th until Sunday, October 28th and included presentations from Ben Sands, Duke alumnus and founder of Sands Leadership, as well as Taylor Jacobson, Duke alumnus and founder of Focusmate.

“I developed such a meaningful bond with my partner,” said one of the participating students. “We so rarely get the opportunities to discuss big-picture questions with people outside of our age bracket, so bouncing ideas off of someone I respect and admire was infinitely helpful. He seemed to benefit from working out his ideas with me, and I was grateful to have given him something in return.”

To learn more about the Enterprising Leadership Initiative or future 36 Hours Events, contact Professor Tony Brown.

Fall 36 Hours at Duke cohort (2018)

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