Rain or Shine, Duke Leadership Academy Scholars Connect

Despite a downpour, the spirit of leadership and learning thrived at the annual networking event for employees in the Duke Leadership Academy

A group of people gather in the Duke Lemur Center's visitor center, talking and surrounding a table of appetizers
The 2025 Duke Leadership Academy Scholars gathered at the Duke Lemur Center last week for a networking event. Photo by Travis Stanley

As thick curtains of rain poured from the sky, DeShelia Spann stood inside the visitor’s center at Duke Lemur Center with a small plate of snacks in her hand and a smile on her face.

The soggy weather kept Spann, Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Communications in Duke Alumni Engagement and Development, from experiencing the main attraction last Wednesday – a tour to see the fuzzy primates she could only admire as stuffed animals in the Lemur Center’s gift shop.

But Spann and other employee scholars in the 2025 Duke Leadership Academy found a way to lean into the other reason they gathered: To learn and to connect.

“Even with the crazy weather, it was fun,” Spann said, after a full day exploring how her Myers-Briggs Type Indicator of ESFJ might shape the way she interacts with others. “The weather didn’t even weigh on our activities or our energy about it.”

The Duke Leadership Academy provides emerging leaders from across the university a chance to participate in a 12-month development initiative based on “The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.” Organized by Duke Learning & Organizational Development, a division of Duke Human Resources, participants learn to sharpen communication, collaboration and management skills through self-assessment, individualized coaching and group projects.

Two stuffed animal lemurs are in the foreground of a networking event where people mill about in the background
Stuffed lemurs kept a watchful eye on the Duke Leadership Academy networking event last week. Photo by Travis Stanley
groups of people stand in two circles, all in conversation
A planned tour of the Duke Lemur Center turned into solely a networking opportunity for Duke Leadership Academy alums and current scholars when it rained. Photo by Travis Stanley

The reception at the Lemur Center is one of Todd Blandford’s favorite activities of the year. Blandford, Assistant Director of Alumni Development Systems, was a part of the 2019 Duke Leadership Academy. He still keeps in touch with his cohort and relishes the opportunity to attend the networking event each year to meet the new scholars.

“It builds a sense of community within the community,” Blandford said.

The academy began in 2010 and has graduated 14 classes. Each year, the current class mingles with alumni during the reception at the Lemur Center.

“They can talk about not only how they put things back into their real world, but it's always good for your network to get wider people who have had similar experiences, people who work in similar settings,” said Keisha Williams, Duke Assistant Vice President for L&OD. “It's an important event so we can continue to foster that whole being, so that they know we're in this together and understand we can reach out to people as you come across challenges.” 

That’s exactly what Spann learned as the rain fell in waves outside and she mingled about the visitor’s center to chat with others.

“It's a great opportunity for me to engage with other growing leaders across the organization,” Spann said. “Sometimes at Duke you don't get a chance to interact with many people outside of your department, but this gives me a chance to hear from my peers and understand some of the challenges they have and some of the opportunities so that it gives perspective.” 

The next Duke Leadership Academy begins in January 2026, with applications accepted this fall.

a stuffed animal lemur sits in the foreground of a Duke Leadership Academy networking event
Lemurs were everywhere at the Duke Leadership Academy networking event – at least in stuffed animal form. Photo by Travis Stanley

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