The Cooper Leadership Program (CLP) is a major component of the CCF programming and a mandatory one if receiving a Chuck Cooper Foundation scholarship. The CLP includes a series of workshops, speakers, mentoring, networking and community outreach. The curriculum was developed with Dr. Mitchel Nickols who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, teaches doctoral classes at Point Park University, has a seasoned career as an NSA speaker, an administrative and executive coach and a leadership development consultant. Some of the specific leadership topics that have been covered in the CLP include: visioning, emotional intelligence, integrity, humility, servanthood, caring for others, empowering others, developing others, goal setting, leading, modeling, team building, and shared decision making. A key workshop focuses on the participants’ vision for their future. As part of the curriculum, CLP graduate scholars create personal vision statements that defined their aspirations and bring focus and purpose to their life pursuits. These statements are shared with undergraduate scholars and participants in our Beacons of Light outreach program.