Theme Music (00:01):

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Taylor Pardue (00:08):

Welcome to the NC State Philanthropy Podcast, telling the world how we Think and Do through the support of our friends, alumni and more. I’m your host, Taylor Pardue.

(00:18)
On this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Debbie Acker, director of the Shelton Leadership Center, to talk about its history and its invaluable work. Thanks so much for joining us today, Debbie. To kick things off, just tell listeners a little bit about yourself and what first brought you to NC State.

Debbie Acker (00:50):

Yeah. So, actually, I had been starting my doctorate here at NC State University, the College of Education, in the higher ed administration and back in 2000. And so, when I was doing my dissertation phase, after working with CALS (the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) in Extension on a sustainability plan, looking at youth and adult partnerships, this center — well, actually, initiative, back then — was developing as Gen. Shelton was retiring from the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff for the United States. And so, he wanted to give something back to his alma mater, and he started the initiative — at that point, the Shelton Leadership Initiative. And I was in need of a new job, since I was going to be graduating from my doctorate, and so, I applied for this position, or a full-time position, with the center and really have been here ever since. So, going on 24 years now.

Taylor Pardue (01:51):

I feel like that’s a good vote of confidence that, even after doing a doctorate, you were still interested in staying here at NC State, and I think that’s a good sign.

Debbie Acker (01:59):

Yeah, I love it. Actually, being in higher education, you never think that you’re going to be in the same place, and especially after doing a doctorate, never thought that I would have the opportunity with anything here at NC State University. So, yeah, and then definitely not being at the same place for 24 years, but Gen. Shelton, him as a person, him and his wife as a team, their core values and what they stand for and what their legacy is. It is very much aligned with my own personal values, and so, [I’m] very passionate about what we’ve been able to do over the last 24 years.

Taylor Pardue (02:39):

Excellent. Yeah, I was able to interview him for a separate story a few years ago, and he is just an incredible gentleman. Just a wonderful example of an NC State alum, I think. So, obviously, he is the namesake of this leadership center. You mentioned how he got it started. You are maybe the perfect person to talk about this, not only as the director, but having been here, there at the beginning. What was that development process? I mean, how did this center get off the ground? You said it initially started as …

Debbie Acker (03:08):

As an initiative.

Taylor Pardue (03:08):

Yeah, initially.

(03:08)
Yeah. And so, it was really small funds, not supported too much by the state, and so, we had a lot of initial fundraising opportunities just because of Gen. Shelton’s success as well as just his service to our country. A lot of people wanted to give back, especially like Ross Perot, Anheuser-Busch, a lot of individuals, Cisco, a lot of individuals who he had been working with as well on the federal side of things and just really wanted to assist in building up what he really felt was the cornerstone of his success, was his values, and also growing up in a rural community and that community legacy, which I think is really important to our land-grant mission. And they just really embody that. And so, really focusing on the integrity and compassion and selfless service was really important.

(04:07)
So, they identified some individuals for a founding board, and a lot of them were people he knew as well as family members to make sure that his legacy was going to and credibility was going to be sustained. That was exciting because bringing together individuals who knew Gen. Shelton when he was in the higher ranks from Frank Akers [Jr.] from the Oak Ridge [National Laboratory] in Tennessee, and also Benny Suggs as an admiral during a lot of the things that Gen. Shelton was doing, they served with him through a lot of wars and deployments, and being in a room with these types of individuals, to actually, over a two-day weekend in Tampa, Florida, coming up with our mission statement and thinking about how these amazing leaders took two days to come up with a very simple yet sustainable lifetime mission statement. And Gen. Shelton, I just remember: it’s, “Inspire, educate and develop values-based leaders committed to personal integrity, professional ethics and selfless service.” And he said, when we presented it to him, if it did not have “values-based” in there, he was not going to accept it. But just the importance of developing the next generation of values-based leaders and the importance of them understanding the impact that they have on their decisions and their actions.

Taylor Pardue (05:34):

That’s the perfect lead-in: What all goes into this center and it’s program to develop these value-based leaders?”

Debbie Acker (05:40):

So, we started with our annual forum, and that we really were trying to bring external based off the outreach of things for professionals as well as bringing our faculty, staff and students to that event and just really talking about a topic that was transcendent across all generations. And that’s a really important piece for Gen. Shelton as well, is that it’s intergenerational, is interdiscipline. Thinking about the Joints, you have to have a lot of different perspectives and a lot of different experiences to be able to solve and consider the grand challenges that we continue to have to today. And so, that has really been an important piece of what we do. So, we had the annual forum, and we had the Shelton Challenge for a great piece of time, which we still do today, and that is for youth, and now it’s for a rising 10th grade through 12th grade.

(06:39)
Again, it’s one of those things where, it’s a six-day residential, but we have a youth person who is a peer leader who has attended the program before really being that connection, that liaison for that student who has no idea what’s going to go on. And then we have a coach leader who is a college student and really observes and facilitates reflection for the team throughout the whole week. So, reflection and critical thinking is a very significant component of that program and anything that we do. And then we have instructors who serve as facilitators, and those are professions from anywhere, and it’s a volunteer operation, and we still have around 60 students who attend the program every week that we have, with about 21 volunteer staff. And so, it’s a very transformational week in allowing these youth to really learn about self, learn about others and how to lead in their community.

(07:40)
We had that until about 2012, and then we started our courses and started minors. So, now we have two minors. One is a cross-discipline minor across the university, where they take some of our courses, but they take courses from across the university. We don’t own leadership. We are partner of leadership, and as we’ve mentioned, perspectives is very important for students to gain. And then we also have a global leadership minor, and the global leadership minor is predominantly done in Europe in one semester, and the students start at our European center in Prague, and they finish at that location, but they also travel to Scotland as well as France, and they take class with students from those partnering universities for those two-week periods of time, learning cross-culturally, learning how to work in teams with new individuals. It’s a cohort experience where they are living, learning and traveling with 15 new friends.

(08:45)
And then we kind of wrap it up back at the European center of, “How does this apply and how does this relate back to your discipline and the importance of that?” So, that’s another piece. We also have workshops and trainings around interdisciplinary teams, and that’s one of the things that we’re really focused on, and especially how the workforce is saying that students are needing to understand how to communicate, how to work in teams as well as cross-culturally and analytically and reflective. And so, that’s all we do, and that’s what we’ve always been doing. So, we really meet the need of that workforce gap that we’re seeing today.

Taylor Pardue (09:28):

So, you’ve said several things that are just so …

Debbie Acker (09:32):

We do a lot.

Taylor Pardue (09:33):

Yes, you do a lot.

Debbie Acker (09:34):

More than people think.

Taylor Pardue (09:35):

I feel like it is a wonderful representation of the land-grant mission. You mentioned “intergenerational”; right there, that’s huge. It’s not just, as powerful as it is, it’s not just for current students of NC State. It really benefits people all across North Carolina. And then, too, as North Carolina and NC State in particular continues to draw these global jobs, this global program, like you said, you don’t own leadership. Leadership impacts all career fields, politics, your community, everything, and as we become more intertwined globally and as our alumni go out and, really, do make an impact on the entire world, how important that is to have that value-based leadership in place, that way they represent themselves, the university, our state, our country, just a wonderful representation of Gen. Shelton’s initial philosophy.

Debbie Acker (10:28):

Yeah, and we’ve been really excited. We have a great team who believes in the mission and is very passionate about their work as well as just continuing that legacy, which is very fortunate. And we also have another arm where we’re really looking at research and doing our own research on our own programs now and that a lot of people have asked me to do, which we just didn’t have the capacity to do, but really, we should be submitting our first longitudinal study on that Shelton Challenge, having connected with alumni since 2003 and what has been that long-term impact into their personal lives and to their, now, families and to their workplace. And that’s just really been exciting. The things, the components that I’ve talked about that are really important have continued to resonate with them. And so, that has been significantly important to their development as an individual but also as a citizen in developing those relationships.

(11:39)
And so, that’s been exciting to see. We also have a longitudinal study on the global leadership minor as well. We’ve been doing that since 2020 and have, now, alumni in the workforce, and just hearing the impacts of what that has caused has helped us to always looking to reflect on how we can enhance those things, but also saying, “Hey, these are the non-negotiables of what we do and how we do it,” I think, is really critical. And maybe one of our differentiators outside of the audience, the breadth of audience that we serve.

(12:13)
The other thing, you know, I mentioned originally, it was an initiative in 2000 — gosh, was it 2010? No, 2007 we became a center, which is the university system center wide. And with that kind of speaking to the importance and, really, how we’ve been able to expand our mission is because university system centers and institutes have to continually show self-sustainability and not be dependent on the state. And so, philanthropy has been significant for us. And it’s funny; I always say, I remember being in my first director’s office in Holloday Hall and him saying, “Debbie, you’re going to have to decide: are you going to be a faculty, or are you going to be an administrator? Because if you’re going to be in the path of administration,” which, that was my doctorate, and I originally wanted to be a president, which is not that anymore, is the fact that, “you will have to fundraise.” And I literally cried …

Taylor Pardue (13:22):

Oh no.

Debbie Acker (13:22):

…because I was coming in higher ed, and I was coming to student affairs, and I’m going, “What are you talking about? That is not me.” But I tell you, when you believe in a mission and you’re passionate, it is not difficult to tell the story. And so, for me, I’ve really embraced and loved being able to tell the story of the impact that it’s not just had on youth. And when I say “youth,” I mean 16 to 26. It also impacts those who serve as volunteers and hearing their stories as well. I mean, a big reason with the youth program is because we have parents who come serve as facilitators because they have seen the impact that this has had. This past year we had four members of a family serve as facilitators because they’re now old enough to serve, and the parent was with them, and to be able to say, “Hey, we want a better world, and we want to serve North Carolina and beyond, and how can we continue to do that?” And we can’t do that alone, and we obviously need that financial support.

(14:44)
And so, for me, one of the things has even been assisting our staff at the different levels of their career journey is to help them understand as well as the students, we are here because people believe in you, and to be mindful of that. And we have a responsibility to be good stewards of that and how we are financially using those funds and being respectful of how the donor intended to have those funds. And so, that’s just been exciting for me. And those things, it’s critical to today and to today’s society, and to help people realize higher education is much more than a degree. And so, being able to help individuals and citizens understand that we are here to serve our communities and to help our students to understand we are here to serve our communities and the public good, that’s critical to our society and our local economy. And the more that we can do to help better that, the better.

Taylor Pardue (15:56):

Absolutely. I feel very similar to how you felt when I first came into my job. I thought “development” and “advancement” — can be a little daunting. And then you get here and you see NC State and you see the products that we produce in these wonderful people, and it’s not a hard sell, because you don’t have to “sell” NC State, I feel like, to donors. You show them and tell them, like we’re doing it here with this podcast, and the examples speak for themselves. And, really, it’s borne out in the people who go out from here. And to your point about being [a] land-grant university, it never fails to amaze me how, as we help students come here and graduate, it’s not just, like you said, it’s not just a degree. It’s not just benefiting them. They go out and, especially leaders, but everyone that comes out of here has the potential to really do something to benefit their community and the global community at large as well.

(16:49)
You mentioned those reports earlier. I know it sounds like they’re still very forthcoming and everything, but are there any highlights that stick out in your mind that you’d like to share with us?

Debbie Acker (16:58):

From the research?

Taylor Pardue (16:59):

From the research, yeah.

Debbie Acker (17:00):

Yeah. So, I mean, again, for us, I think what was exciting was how the practice of reflection has influenced their decisions and their paths and how they work with others. That warms my heart, because that has been very important to us and using a very specific framework, and the other thing is asking questions. The importance of asking questions was another thing that has arisen in that space. Self-awareness in regards to being mindful of those around you and listening before accusing or thinking as a fault. And so, the importance of those things. And it’s interesting: Between the two programs, the same themes actually arise because, like I mentioned, whether it’s the youth program or college programs or even in our professional, we’re trying to put them with different disciplines as well as experiences and age. And that has been critical to people’s learning and being mindful of that. And especially with the global one, since that’s the one I’m really working on right now, is just the importance of humility and knowing that you don’t have to have all the answers.

(18:31)
The other thing that I was very excited about just because of my own trajectory of my own years of experience is that the ones [whom] I was meeting with really discussed how their employees, employers were recognizing their curiosity and being OK with asking the questions. And actually, that was seen as a advantage to them, that they weren’t scared to ask the questions. And so, the employer saw that as a strength and not feeling like they have to have all the answers and recognizing that they have to learn and they have a lot to learn from others. They don’t have to come in having all the answers, thinking that they’re going to go up into these positions. And the other thing that was very interesting was that, because we talk about values and alignment to the organization, a lot of them are not wanting to leave that organization and be there, actually, longer.

(19:35)
So, that retention time, I am finding, is greater with that population because they’re in it, because they believe in their mission, and the people [whom] they are working with are open to giving them the historical context. We talk a lot about that in Europe and trying to get the historical context, especially in the Czech Republic, where they’re a very young democracy. They went through World War II, and then they had communism, and people [whom] they’re talking to and having tours with were young children and really experiencing it themselves. So, getting them to think about how they need to have the historical context as well as the current understanding and not just looking at one social feed or newsfeed, but getting a very broad perspective on things is really important. And that actually came out in that research.

Taylor Pardue (20:37):

I think that’s another great example of the larger impact on these employers, on these different countries where these students and, then, alumni go into: just really taking that message with them. So, how do students get involved with this center? It sounds like there are pre-college opportunities and then the minors here at the university. So, what all does that, is there an application process? What does that …

Debbie Acker (21:01):

Yeah, there are actually two other programs that they can connect with as well, which is the Shelton Scholars, and that started in 2005, and that’s a four-year program. And then we also have the Chancellor’s Leadership Development Program, which is a two- to three-year program. So, we have quite a few programs of entry into the university, and thankfully, with our current staff, we’re also developing, while you’re here at NC State, how you can get engaged with some of our, we have thriving and interdisciplinary teams, modules that students can participate with in their years as well as the annual forum or our courses and minors, but that’s a piece that we’re continuing to build out in that connection and doing workshops and trainings for individuals across the university. That’s another thing that we love, is that, being under the provost division with the Office of University Interdisciplinary Program, we serve the whole university, so we don’t have those specific areas.

(22:04)
And so, we really love partnering costs and building those across the university. And so, we try to help out where we can and see those opportunities. So, those are different ways that the students can get engaged, but a lot of it right now is those programs. And so, really connecting with career counselors in the high schools, and then we do communications with the Shelton Challenge individuals to make them aware of what they have opportunity to engage with the center. And I’ll have to say that our communications person is amazing. She’s done a great job since she’s been here for two and a half years, and that awareness has exploded since. I would say we had a 40% increase in openings and different things. She was just giving us an impact report for our board, and I was like, “Wow, that’s amazing.” Just in the last year.

Taylor Pardue (22:57):

Wow, that is amazing. Yeah. So, these are the opportunities for the students. Talk about the opportunities — you talked about philanthropy and the important part that it plays with the center. Obviously, when people hear “Shelton Leadership Center,” they hear, “Sheldon,” they think, “It’s his center,” or something like that. But talk about the role that donors can play with small gifts, big gifts. You know, the importance of partnering with the center.

Debbie Acker (23:22):

Yeah, I mean, I think going through the process of things, obviously my strategy, you have to have annual giving. And when I mean annual giving, it’s not just you’re sending out a letter and getting that. It’s just anything within the year of a small gift to say thank you or your investment in the next generation of leaders. But then you also have those opportunities. And so, what I really seek to do is to identify and get to know a donor and really see them as a friend and seeing where their interests are at. I think that’s really important in engaging them in those spaces. So, we have opportunities of mentoring. We have opportunities of participating in networking events. We have ability to have guest speakers into our classes or into our workshops. And so, we really try to seek out ways where this person’s interest is.

(24:23)
They can volunteer for the Shelton Challenge, which we’ve had that as well. So, really, just seeing where their interests are at and engaging them with that student audience, I think, is really critical. But the other piece is, it would be great if we get a $10 million endowment. That’s the ultimate goal, but it’s really looking at people’s capacities or looking at our priorities to continually build the endowments for each of our programs. So, it’s not just looking at the center; it’s looking at the specific program needs and where we have those opportunities.

(25:01)
So, with our Shelton Scholars program, we have 12, it’s now a cohort program, and we have four of our 12 that are endowed individually that allows us to increase the scholarship. They get a scholarship as well as an enrichment fund every year. And so, each of those scholars, it’s endowed at $250,000. We have an original endowment for the Scholars, and so that helps us to increase the scholarship amount as we individually. So, we want to get it back up to a $10,000, at least, scholarship annually with a $2,000 enrichment fund every year. So, that’s a very strategic way of assisting the student as well as us being able to focus on other things.

(25:56)
The other thing is, we don’t have an operational.

Taylor Pardue (25:57):

OK.

Debbie Acker (26:01):

This past year, we did an international trip for service. That’s their focus for the Scholars, and they went to Vietnam because of one of our Scholars has a relationship with, I believe it’s the Rotary, and with Children of Vietnam. And so, they went, and they went for spring break, and we were able to pay for that so that students who are coming from rural communities, a lot of them would never have been able to afford that trip. And so, we offer that trip every other year somewhere, and they decide where that trip is going to be as a junior, takes that on and crafts it with our assistant director, who oversees the program. And that was significant. And what was great was, we also connected it because we also have one of our supporters who got engaged with us because he was actually a doctor in Vietnam with Montagnards.

Taylor Pardue (27:02):

OK.

Debbie Acker (27:02):

And so, they were able to get that context, and Gen. Shelton served with the Montagnards, and they were very impactful during his time in Vietnam. And so, just helping them make those connections with Gen. Shelton, but then also the impact that, or retreats or anything like that, that’s based off of annual giving for those Scholars.

(27:23)
For our Chancellor’s Leadership Development Program, it is totally needing to be financially supported. And so, we have the focus of, it wasn’t as much on scholarship yet. That was my being naive; of thinking that, because they’re first-generation rural students, that their financial need would be taken care of through financial aid. It is not. But the importance of the program was more of that community for that transition, to meet that gap of attrition and getting them to graduation, which it has assisted in that they tend to stay at the university, become engaged.

(28:06)
That community is critical to their livelihood because everyone understands what they’re going through within that cohort, and we offer more high-impact experiences with that program. So, they actually, in their first year, they have retreats, and they really focus on self. And their second year, they focus on community and service, and they identify a state that they will travel to. And this year, they’re going through their spring break, and it’s the second-year students doing that, and they focus on a need in that community. So, throughout the year, they’re looking at this local need and then helping to pair it in that region to get that context. But a lot of them have never gone out of the state before.

Taylor Pardue (28:49):

Sure.

Debbie Acker (28:49):

Their third year, they focus on the professional side of things, and they select a country. And so, they do an international trip, which that population probably would never have thought they could afford that as well. We have about 50 students in that program. So, it’s a lot of students, right? You’re thinking about that service trip and that international trip. That’s a lot of expense that we pay for by the very nice gifts of individuals. And so, we do have some endowment in that space as well as the annual giving, but obviously, we would love to be able to serve more.

(29:28)
The other piece that we’re really focused on is, we’ve thankfully been awarded an NC State [University] Foundation grant recently for Interdisciplinary Leadership Lab and, really, to expand the whole thriving and interdisciplinary teams to students across the university. So, again, it’s around capacity, being able to think about, how do we do thought leadership pieces as well as networking components, as well as expanding the number of modules that we can serve for undergraduates and graduate students?

Taylor Pardue (30:03):

And we will be sure to include in the show notes a link to Shelton Leadership Center so they can learn more, and then especially about the giving opportunities. The impact of that donation goes so far beyond just the monetary value, but also, it’s something I’ve mentioned in previous episodes, I really like to highlight the volunteer aspects. So many times, people think “support” means “financial support,” and it does. It, that’s very important, obviously, but, really, just any way that you can support this mission of the center, it’s just … The work it does impacts these students, impacts your own community. I mean, really, there’s that old saying of, “This generation, one day, will lead the country,” “lead the state,” and it’s true that you are investing in the leaders that you want to see of your own community one day. So, I really think any way people can get involved with the Sheldon Leadership Center is just fantastic.

Debbie Acker (30:57):

And I’ll have to say that I have an amazing board of advisors right now, and they’ve been very passionate in their time. I like to say, “time and treasure.” Very committed to making sure that we are sustaining the legacy of Gen. and Ms. Shelton, but then also expanding that mission and really seeing the significance of that impact.

Taylor Pardue (31:25):

And again, talking about what we mentioned earlier, about you being an alum and being interested in staying here for, now, it’s a big part of your career. And I think the same is true of Gen. Sheldon; that, as an alum, when he thought of, obviously, he saw the need for a leadership center, but the fact that he chose to put it here at his alma mater, I think, is a very huge vote of confidence in us, and it’s a real honor to be able to carry on that.

Debbie Acker (31:54):

It is, and as my staff know, my board knows, I take it very seriously. Just knowing them personally and wanting to honor his work and service to our country. We always say, “the real deal.” And when you know people’s hearts and their purposes … One of my, if you know their strengths, quest is responsibility, and I feel a great responsibility to make sure that his legacy is carried on.

Taylor Pardue (32:27):

You mentioned some of the different values that the research has shown has played a part in the graduates’ lives and careers and everything as they went out. I was just thinking as you were mentioning those, the introspection, the thoughtfulness, the willingness to learn as they lead. If I was going to be a leader, that’s the type of leader I would aspire to be, but also, that’s the type of leader I would want to follow if I was not the leader as well. It’s not hard to follow a leader that you can believe and trust in like that. And so, just really appreciative of Gen. Shelton and all the different donors who helped make this possible. I think it’s a wonderful reflection of just NC State as a university.

Debbie Acker (33:08):

Yeah, I think one of the things that I’m always reminded of: Gen. Shelton mentioned how, even when he was Chairman of [the] Joint Chiefs of staff, he would ask his assistant whenever he spoke for feedback. And thinking of someone who had over, I don’t know, two million people under his leadership and all that he had accomplished, still asking for feedback about how he spoke, how he could have done it differently. I think that’s an important lesson and one I hope I never forget.

Taylor Pardue (33:45):

Absolutely. Yep. I will definitely be sure to share more information about the Shelton Leadership Center in the show notes so listeners can learn more, but before we go, I definitely want to highlight an upcoming event. This is tentatively airing on the 21st. We are getting ready to have a very significant event for the Shelton Leadership Center here in a couple of days.

Debbie Acker (34:07):

Yeah, we’re very excited about it. This will be our 24th annual forum, and we’ll be focused on ethical leadership in an interconnected world and really looking at how we are expanding locally and globally and how modern technologies has also expanded exponentially, and how do we consider our ethics within this space, and how do we connect in a way that is meaningful and willingness to work with differences and coming to a common ground of solved problems. And so, we’re excited to have two speakers with us on Oct. 23. It is free to anyone. You can register up until that morning at 8 a.m. We will go live at 9 a.m. The great thing is, since it is fully virtual, you can register, and if you aren’t able to attend from 9-12:30, you can get the recordings afterward and listen to the two keynote speakers at least.

(35:20)
And one of the keynote speakers is Dr. Donna Hicks. She is an associate at Harvard University, and she will be focusing on dignity; how to create a culture that brings out the best in people. I was on vacation last spring listening to that book, and I kept laughing because her examples and how she engages the audience just by reading her book herself was so timely, and especially when you’re working across generations in different spaces. Her research is phenomenal. She’s been doing it for a long time, and so, I’m excited about her coming on.

(36:05)
And then we’re really excited to have William Cohen, the former Secretary of Defense who served actually under President Clinton and had been a senator and was able to make a lot of significant impact on the decisions that were affecting our world at that time. And so, he’s going to be doing a fireside chat with us as well. We do have engagement opportunities for workshops. This is all going to be live and recorded, so we’re looking forward to that day, and hopefully people will be willing to register.

Taylor Pardue (36:37):

I’m looking forward to it, too. I registered just the other day.

Debbie Acker (36:39):

Oh, good.

Taylor Pardue (36:40):

So, looking forward to participating.

Debbie Acker (36:41):

Yeah. Great.

Taylor Pardue (36:49):

To learn more about the Shelton Leadership Center, visit, go.ncsu.edu/sheltonpodcast. To register for the Shelton Leadership Forum, visit go.ncsu.edu/slcforum. Thanks for listening, and as always, go Pack.