Local and global community leaders celebrated the completion of their respective Coady programs with a graduation ceremony Friday, May 24.

Twenty-one women leaders from 11 countries graduated from the Women’s Leadership in Community Development certificate program.

Fifteen community leaders from 12 countries graduated from the Asset-Based and Citizen-Led Development (ABCD) certificate program.

After returning from communities around the globe where they implemented community initiatives over a nine-month period, nine Canadian youth leaders graduated from the yearlong OceanPath Fellowship.

During the ceremony, ABCD participant Daisy Rono of Kenya said,

“You never see any executive director coming to your class every day. When an executive director leaves his office to teach you, to listen to your stories, and to allow you to think, then you must feel special. Thank you Gord for the leadership.

We are going back home – leaving Coady – as better leaders. We are going home having learned that leadership begins with us.”

These graduates join more than 8,000 Coady graduates globally, representing more than 130 countries.