JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Sept. 12, 2024) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District celebrated the completion and graduation of the 2024 Leadership Development Program Course during a ceremony at Maggiano's Little Italy in Jacksonville’s Town Center.
The Jacksonville District Leadership Development Program (LDP) is a part-time, year-long, multi-faceted leadership and management development program designed in direct response to the need to systematically develop the leadership and management skills of the Jacksonville District’s current and future leaders and managers.
Maj. Matthew A. Westcott, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville’s Deputy District commander, praised graduates for their accomplishment, dedication and commitment to excellence to enrich themselves, the district and USACE.
“The LDP program is more than just an opportunity to excel individually – it represents a larger step toward organizational leadership,” said Westcott. “This program makes a long-term investment in developing our future division leaders and it is about personal growth, but more importantly indicates a willingness to serve the organization in a leader capacity.”
Roberta Cotton, the Jacksonville District LDP Training Coordinator said the program works because students expand their minds and share experiences that helps students tap into their leadership skills without being overwhelmed by the results. She explained that the course provided a blend of practical skills, core values and meaningful connections, and participants embarked on a journey of personal and professional development.
“It is designed to grow leaders through teamwork that produces results and, in the process, friendships and relationships are formed,” said Cotton.
The course provides students with leadership tools and exposes individuals to greater opportunities by applying the individual’s capabilities to influence positive change resulting in greater organizational learning and agility.
The Jacksonville District’s Leadership Development Program is open to anyone in the district who are potentially future leaders of the organization. The course develops participants’ self-awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses and their understanding of current USACE leaders’ visions and values to successfully lead others.
The Leadership Development Program consists of 12-months of professional development to advance the students’ leadership skills through formal training, mentoring, and experiential learning at district facilities.
Students learned course material through lecture, applied lessons through role playing exercises, built relationships through team building events, and practiced public speaking through literature presentations and mock interviews.
The class participated in community services projects, hosted a lunch and learn for fiscal year 2025 with 125 employees attending, and served as hosts and escorts for the district change of command in July.
As part of their class projects, they researched and developed a student outreach communication formatting guide for the division SharePoint pages and created a direct link for the employee research page to improve the efficiency and continuity.
They visited the Jacksonville District South Florida operations office and area projects allowing gainful insight and understanding of the district’s programs and mission. District program and project managers also mentored and instructed the group on leadership and teamwork.
During the course, students covered topics that included emotional intelligence, mentoring, situational leadership, conflict resolution and time management. They attended breakout sessions, met with leaders from each division and attended classes covering the project mission and day-to-day operations of various offices.
Captain Ryan C. Tillotson USN (Ret.), a former Navy commander and guest speaker for the graduation, shared helpful snippets of his leadership perspective gained from many years of experience serving as a Navy commander. He reminded them of life’s changes, challenges, the continual learning process and expect to adapt to changes. He emphasized that a good leader should have integrity, self-awareness, courage, respect, compassion, and resilience. They should be learning agile and flex their influence while communicating the vision, showing gratitude, and collaborating effectively.
“If you think your schooling is over, it’s never truly over,” said Tillotson. “You’re always learning and taking new positions and growing as a leader and as a person.”
During the graduation ceremony, students spoke about what they took away from the course of instruction and what benefitted them best.
Enri Jean (E.J.) Burgos, a Realty Specialist, said she is grateful to be a part of this class and work with this team of professionals. She joined the Corps of Engineers to learn new things, understand new technology, and meet new people that work in the Corps. She said her goal is to not be better than anyone but always share ideas, values and grow with personal development that will help her become a great leader.
“This has been a great experience, and I got the opportunity to meet other people from around different projects that I usually would have not gotten to know on a personal level,” said Burgos. “This class and information will help me in the future.”
Aaron Hendricks, a Civil Engineer from the Engineering Division Design Branch, said the program increased his self-awareness and understanding of his individual strengths, weaknesses and potential by learning about the team-building processes and improving the productivity level in a team using focused leadership skills.
“I understand the process and learned that people have different styles of working and I need to be willing to accommodate the styles of my other team members,” said Hendricks.
Nathaniel Anderson, a civil engineer from the Engineering Division’s, Water Resources Branch, Water Management Section was encouraged to apply by his supervisor, and said he took advantage of the opportunity.
“I have wanted to do the LDP program since I started working for the Corps and at some point, in my career as it was recommended by senior employees,” said Anderson. “I have gained clearer insight about the broader missions of the district and am benefiting from the mentoring process.”
Elisa Bilbao, a Civil Engineer (Structural) in the Design Management Branch, from the Caribbean District enjoyed the communication tools provided.
“This program provided me with the tools to use if exposed to the media or any type of community engagement,” said Bilbao. “I really liked the strategic communication and media skills training. “I learned during his training has been useful during meetings or discussions for different subjects or environments in my current position. I am sure I will be referring to this training’s material and my notes in the future.”
Melaine Robles, a Contract Specialist, thanked the district, classmates and leaders for making the experience.
“I enjoyed being with each and every one of you on this journey, you are an amazing team, and I will never forget this moment,” said Robles.
Camille Castro, a Civil Engineer, from the Jacksonville District South Florida office thanked her supervisors and instructors.
“I want to thank our team and I was challenged in this class and benefitted from understanding the ability to adapt to change and look at alternate situations,” said Castro.
Felix, Colon-Cardona, a Civil Engineer, was promoted to a new USACE position during the class and explained how the program was beneficial.
“It helped me on a professional and personal level,” said Colon-Cardona. “This team set the bar high, and it’s great to have direct engagement with other leaders and to learn from them how problems are solved within the district.”
“This Leadership Development program is one of many ways that the district continues to developed future leaders," said Billie Jo Fagan (BJ), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District Chief of Staff and training mentor. “This is an excellent opportunity for them to learn more about the district, the services we provide, and the inter-connectedness across all functional organizations.
Fagan said, LDP is an indicator that the agency values its employees through training and development which leads to a highly motivated and success-driven team. She said investing in people, "Is a primary way an agency shows they care and are committed to their employees, which is a great tool for retention."
2024 Class (TEAM LEGACY) graduates: Alejandro Lopez, Camille Castro, Nathaniel Anderson, Aaron Hendricks, John Snell, Felix Colon-Cardona, Michael Monahan, Michael Strange, Enri Jean (EJ) Burgos, Peggy Bebb, Melaine Robles, and Elisa Bilbao.
Congratulations to the following teammates on their selection for the 2025 Leadership and Development Program: Bedalyz Rosa, Miguel A. Lugo-Ortiz, Joelle Carney, Anthony J. Tallie, Larbi Kandil, Angel Martinez, Megan Parsons, Katie Lebow, Geena Hill, Kimberly Mann, Misty Cunningham, Caribbean District participants, Luis Betancourt, Ingrid Padilla and Rafael Cardona.
For more news, updates and information visit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District district’s website at www.saj.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Jacksonvilledistrict, and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/JaxStrong.