About Coro
Our Approach to Leadership
The Coro logo, a stylized C that mimics an eye, reflects our guiding framework: leadership means looking inward at motivations and behaviors, outward at who we’re leading and working with, and forward at the goals we’re working toward.
Looking inward, outward, forward. It sounds simple, but leading is complex. Leadership is often multidirectional, nonlinear, and full of pivots and contradictions. Our programs help leaders understand and navigate these challenges. Coro leaders gain the tools, the lifelong network, and the practice they need to activate meaningful change.
Coro offers practical and interconnected skills to help strengthen leadership practice:
Inward
Cultivate self-awareness, self-management, and critical thinking skills.
Outward
Build effective communication practices to work across differences and create cultures of trust and innovation.
Forward
Move a project, idea, or cause forward through collaboration and influence, answering the questions: To what end? In service of what?
While Coro programs vary in length and format, they share common benefits:
- Hands-on learning and practice to sharpen self-awareness, analysis, and communication skills.
- Increased capacity to work and lead across differences.
- Personalized assessments for leadership practices and styles.
- Access to influential leaders for informational interviews and insights.
- Opportunities to build robust professional relationships and networks.
- Collaborative learning with real-world application.
- Highly experienced trainers.
- Ongoing alumni events and lifelong learning opportunities.
Ready to strengthen your leadership practice? Explore our programs.
Our History
Our founders, W. Donald Fletcher and Van Duyn Dodge, met in 1940 while working on a political campaign in San Francisco. Fletcher was a recent Stanford Law School graduate; Dodge was an investment counselor and founder of Dodge & Cox. Working side by side, the two found common ground in a belief that meaningful change in the political process required cultivating a new generation of engaged and informed citizen leaders., They developed a vision of educational discovery to do just that. Coro was born on October 12, 1942.
Fletcher and Dodge took an innovative approach to leadership training, focused on helping our democratic system work more effectively on behalf of its citizens. Over the decades, that work expanded to Los Angeles (1957), St. Louis (1973), New York (1980), and Pittsburgh (1999). In 2026, Coro Northern California and Coro Southern California merged to form Coro California, creating a unified statewide presence.
Coro Today
Today, Coro trains leaders at every level, from high school students to postgraduates, mid-career professionals to executives. Our 15,000+ -network of leaders work across differences and strengthen the civic fabric every day. Coro’s remarkable alumni include United States Senators, elected officials in city halls and state legislatures, and leaders in corporate boardrooms, vital institutions, nonprofit organizations, union halls, and beyond.
