2000: Winkie LaForce #LT30for30
Since 1992, Leadership Triangle has been a convener, educator, advocate, and amplifier for some of our region’s most engaged leaders and organizations. To celebrate our 30-year anniversary, we’re telling the stories of 30 Fellows from 30 years of programs. Each Fellow highlighted will represent one year of impact: from 1992 to 2001, to 2022.
Winkie LaForce is a force for leadership excellence in the Triangle. She is an impactful leader, a connector, Triangle resident, and pickleball coach. Starting in 2000, Winkie operated as Leadership Triangle’s first full-time Executive Director for over 15 years. She helped build the organization as one of the region’s premiere leadership development platforms through her initiative, creativity, and leadership. She is passionate about excellence on the pickleball court. Winkie La Force is a 2000 Leadership Triangle Goodmon Fellow.
“ Leadership Triangle started as just the Regional class, but then we realized we could add much more leadership development to LT. We had the Triangle part covered with our program in different parts of the region. Now we wanted to make and discover Triangle-wide leaders. — Winkie La Force, 2000 Goodmon Fellow
Owen: What is your story?
Winkie La Force: I was born about 74 years ago. I was my father’s first “son” and had three younger brothers. Dad was an incredible athlete, and because of his love for sports, athletics have been a significant part of my life, as have my three younger brothers. We grew up outside Philadelphia and went to the Jersey shore every summer of my life. I got involved in sports through North Carolina Amateur Sports and the US Olympic Festival in 1987 here in the Triangle. And then I left North Carolina Amateur Sports and went down and worked for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta for about three years and was one of the first people employed. It was inspiring to see it grow and grow.
Afterward, I returned and worked for the Special Olympics World Summer Games here in the Triangle. I also worked in all these events with Jim Goodmon, and we had a fantastic partnership. Over time I became very interested in Leadership Triangle, and at that point, they only had a part-time Executive Director.
Jim and I got together, and we thought it would be good to have a full-time Executive Director (back then, the role was President). At the time, I was just behind the scenes because I had gone through Leadership Triangle, and then one thing led to another, and we decided that maybe I should try to be the Executive Director. So, I went in front of the board and jumped through all the hoops, and it turned out that I became the President of Leadership Triangle for the next 15 years. Once I retired, I got into the pickleball world and became a certified coach. And pickleball has taken over my life!
Owen: What was it like being the Executive Director for Leadership Triangle for over 15 years?
Winkie: It was great fun. It started as just the Regional class, but then we realized we could add much more leadership development to LT. We had the Triangle part covered with our program in different parts of the region. Now we wanted to make and discover Triangle-wide leaders. We’d seen other triangle-wide events and venues, but we thought we could do more with the leadership aspect of it. So we started the leadership development class that then morphed into Transforming Leaders. And that was wonderful. Then I thought it’d be fun to create an Executive program, which we did. And we invited the triangle-wide executives and their spouses or partners to a gathering.
Jim and Barbara were very involved, and we always kicked this track off at their house. We took those folks around the Triangle for events at places like the NC Art Museum or The Friday Center with various guest speakers. We even took them to Durham Bulls games. Many participants were CEO levels, like the head of Duke Health, leaders of different banks and new CEOs transferred to the area. It was always during the dinner hour-cocktails, dinner, and then a speaker. It worked in getting many of these leaders acquainted with other parts of the Triangle and with others at their business level whom they may not have met before.
I felt like we were constantly creating during my 15 years at Leadership Triangle. We created a monthly alumni luncheon series. It was very successful. The Triangle Community Foundation sponsored that, and different people came in and talked about their role in the Triangle. These were not just Goodmon Fellows, but they were active leaders in the region as well. My goal was to connect the different classes and leaders in the Triangle. We then created the Goodmon Awards. It was huge and was always the first big event in December. Through these awards, we acknowledged leaders who were exceptional alumni, partners, corporations, and individuals in the Triangle. We had a committee, and residents would vote on who would receive them. It was very successful and did a great job of bringing in people unfamiliar with Leadership Triangle. It was about celebrating our community in each city. It was about connecting leaders to people in places like Carrboro and Durham.
Owen: Awesome. How can people connect with you and support the work you do now?
Winkie: It’s pretty easy to connect with me! I’ve had the same email for ages. People can connect with me at winkielaforce078@gmail.com. I love talking to and coaching Goodmon Fellows and Triangle leaders, and I’m more than happy to talk to people questioning where they’re going and what path they’re on. I think about the service people like Jes Averhart are doing. She is encouraging people to reinvent themselves. Your life and careers can change so much through the decades. I’m in my 70s and love coaching and playing pickleball! I love to encourage people to embrace change and reinvent themselves. And of course, through pickleball, I love embracing regionalism through pickleball by playing this sport throughout the Triangle and through a sports lens. What could be a better combination?
