2018–2022 #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.
Ricky Hurtado (2018)
A son of working-class immigrants, Ricky grew up in rural North Carolina and is a product of public schools. A first-generation college student, Ricky’s dream finally came true when he was accepted into UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar. He found his passion for public service while at UNC, mentoring other high school students who grew up in similar circumstances and were working hard to make their own dreams come true. He attended graduate school at Princeton University, focusing on how to create effective public policy to fight poverty and inequality and build strong, vibrant communities.
After a brief time as a consultant and policy analyst supporting nonprofits and foundations across the country, Ricky became an instructor at UNC Chapel Hill and is co-executive director of LatinxEd, an education initiative helping other first-generation college students and immigrant families break down barriers to educational opportunity. In November 2020, he was also elected as the House Representative for District 63 (Alamance County), becoming the first Latinx Democrat ever to be elected in the history of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Read our conversation with him from last year.
Morgan Weston (2019)
Morgan is a marketing leader and storyteller in the Triangle. She has a combined background in journalism, software, and commercial real estate marketing which enable her to provide a detail oriented, people-first approach to her profession. Morgan is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and has served as the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for Research Triangle Park. She currently is the Director of Operations for Carrie Moore Interior Design in Durham, NC. Morgan is an active Fellow in the Triangle community and is a docent at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh as well as a volunteer Transforming Leaders coach.
Read our recent conversation with her.
Chip Sudderth (2020)
William “Chip” Sudderth is a lifelong North Carolinian currently serving as Chief Communications Officer for Durham Public Schools, where his wife teaches Spanish, and his son graduated. Prior to joining DPS, he was a communications specialist for the Wake County Public School System. He has a Master of Arts in speech communication from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Read our recent conversation with him.
Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail (2021)
Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail is the 13th President of Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, NC. Prior to joining Saint Augustine’s, Dr. McPhail served as President and CEO of the McPhail Group, LLC and a nationally recognized thought leader in higher education. She is the founding professor and director of the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University. Dr. McPhail is the former president of Cypress College in California. She also recently served as a professor of practice at Kansas State University in the John E. Roueche Center for Community College Leadership Development. She is a Certified Associate for Emergenetics International, which helps organizations, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, achieve desired results including increased efficiency and improved communication through solutions centered on the Emergenetics Profile and tools.
After multiple decades in higher education, Dr. McPhail served as a leadership coach with Achieving the Dream with a mission to help leaders shape the teaching and learning environment by engaging, aligning, and inspiring people to act. She has developed proven coaching and consulting methodologies and leadership programs that are now used by numerous institutions to help their leaders drive results. Dr. McPhail is the recipient of the 2018 Diverse Champions Award from Diverse Issues in Higher Education, the 2010 AACC National Leadership Award, and the 2008 League of Innovation’s Terry O’Banion Leadership Award. She served on the Advisory Council for the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the National Center for Postsecondary Research at the Community College Research Center.
Dr. Paulette Dillard (2022)
Dr. Paulette R. Dillard has a rich teaching history having taught biology for over 20 years at various institutions. Prior to her appointment as the 18th President of Shaw University, she served as Interim President and Vice President for Academic Affairs. During her tenure at Shaw University, she has served as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Department Chair for Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and as an Associate Professor of Biology. She also served as Coordinator of undergraduate research infrastructure, and Co-Director of the academic enrichment programs for the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) funded Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) project.
An avid researcher, Dr. Dillard and Shaw University student research interns spent six weeks in Kingston, Jamaica conducting a study examining the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of Jamaican men of African descent who were diagnosed with prostate cancer. This study was of interest to her as her postdoctoral research was focused on prostate cancer and its disparate impact on men of African descent. She has also worked as a visiting researcher at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, published her research in peer reviewed journals, and presented at national and international conferences.
