The STC Florida Chapter has initiated a creative Leadership Development Program (LDP) entitled Passing the Torch. The program is designed to accelerate the professional development of new leaders who are now moving into positions of responsibility within our community.

The program pairs veteran community members, the “LDP Coaches,” with the “Rising Stars” who are in the process of taking the reins of chapter leadership.

Many of the Rising Stars are likely to be “graduates” of the chapter’s flourishing student mentoring program in partnership with the Future Technical Communicators (FTC) Club at the University of Central Florida, although the LDP is not restricted to that talent pipeline. Any chapter member who has stepped up to a major leadership responsibility within the expanded Administrative Council (e.g., offices, committee chairs) is eligible for invitation to the LDP. Pairings are based on the Coaches’ and Rising Stars’ self-evaluated leadership profiles ranking themselves on 6 key leadership qualities and 8 leadership skills.

The LDP is a natural extension of the student mentoring program. The approximate timeframe for each LDP pairing is one chapter year. For details on this exciting program, see the announcement in the April 2018 edition of our chapter newsletter, Memo to Members, as well as the materials below. The application forms will open in Google Docs as view-only files; please save as a Word Document or make a copy to edit the form.

At the heart of the LDP is the Fast-Start Leader’s Guide, published in 2018 by STC Fellow, three-time Orlando Chapter president, and former Society Board of Directors member Mike Murray, who also served as manager for the first year of the LDP. For a book review on this landmark work, see the publication announcement in the April 2018 edition of Memo to Members.

First Year Pairings

The STC Florida Chapter Leads the Way on Leadership. The 2018-2019 Leadership Development Program, a Society Pacesetter Award-winning initiative, was launched in 2018 with a kick-off meeting at the home of LDP manager and STC Fellow Mike Murray, author of the STC Fast-Start Leader’s Guide. 2018-2019 Kick-off at Mike Murray’s House

First-Year Pairings

The LDP partnerships for the 2018-2019 program paired four of the chapter’s officers with veteran STC community leaders, as follows:

  • President Bethany Aguad paired with Treasurer and STC Fellow W.C. Wiese
  • Vice President Nick Ducharme paired with past chapter president and Director-at-Large Debra Johnson.
  • Immediate Past President Alex Garcia paired with Director-at-Large and STC Fellow Karen Lane.
  • Secretary Crystal Brezina paired with former Education Committee manager and STC Fellow Dan Voss.

LDP History

The LDP partnerships by chapter year are summarized below.

Year/LDP Manager Rising Star Coach
2017-2019 Alex Garcia Karen Lane
Mike Murray & Dan Voss Nick Ducharme Debra Johnson
Bethany Aguad W.C. Wiese
  Crystal Brezina Dan Voss
2020-2021 John Clement Bethany Aguad 
Alex Garcia    
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