JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Sept. 18, 2025) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District celebrated the completion and graduation of the 2025 Leadership Development Program Course during a ceremony at district headquarters at the Prudential Building on Jacksonville’s Southbank.
‘Team Synergy’ comprised of twelve Jacksonville District Leadership Development Program (LDP) students is a part-time, year-long, multi-faceted leadership and management development program. It is 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, and Howard (Howie) Gonzales, Deputy District Engineer for Programs and Project Management presented awards. Gonzales was the guest speaker.
Westcott highlighted the graduates’ journey, applauded their achievement, perseverance and commitment to excellence. He told the group, the LDP program is more than just an opportunity to excel individually – it represents a larger step toward organizational leadership.
“This achievement will enrich you, the district and USACE,” said Westcott. “Today, we celebrate your hard work, but even more than that, we celebrate who you’ve become. You’ve have put in the time, energy, and heart it takes to grow into the kind of leaders USACE needs.”
Billie Jo Fagan (BJ), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District Chief of Staff and LDP Program Manager thanked the Steering Committee members for their instruction oversight to the students. Andie Dunn, Chief, Planning Division; Tim McQuillen, Chief Real Estate Division and Gene Morisani, Chief Construction Division.
Fagan said these four have provided oversight and been actively engaged in the direction of the future LDP program.
She said the program works because students develop leadership characteristics, share experiences that helps other students tap into their leadership skills without being overwhelmed by the results. She explained that the course provided a balance of practical skills, core values and meaningful connections, and participants embarked on a journey of personal and professional development.
“I am a firm believer in organizations setting themselves up for success via a dynamic training program which incorporates mentorship, strategic learning and immersive experiences,” said Fagan. “Our graduates today are the next generation of visionary leaders.”
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. It is designed to grow leaders through teamwork that produces results and, during the process, friendships and relationships are formed.
The Jacksonville District’s Leadership Development Program is open to district employees 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 is a Tier II, 12-month professional development program to advance the students’ leadership skills through formal training, mentoring, and experiential learning at district facilities.
Students learned course material through in-person and virtual workshops, lectures, applied lessons through group role playing exercises, built relationships through team building events, and practiced public speaking through literature presentations and mock interviews. They engaged through one-on-one mentoring, project-based learning, individual learning and reading assignments.
Ten of the graduates are from Jacksonville District and two are from the Caribbean District. The diverse group consists of five Civil Engineers, three biologist, one public affairs specialist, one park ranger, one engineering equipment operator and one environmental engineer. They represent the offices of Construction, Engineering, Operations, Regulatory, Planning and Corporate Communications.
As part of their class projects, they revitalized the LDP and mentor ship programs. Researched, developed and revamped the current curriculum, create an outline for the mentorship program that helps information retention to improve the efficiency and continuity.
The team 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 tutored 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.
Gonzales was the guest speaker for the graduation.
In his poignant speech to ‘Team Synergy’ he challenged them to expand their minds by asking the personal question. “Where do I go from here?”
“Leadership is often mistaken for authority or position, but real leadership is far deeper, it is the ability to inspire and influence others toward a shared vision while holding oneself accountable to values and service,” said Gonzales.”
He reminded them that life’s changes, challenges, leadership is about service. He said, ‘Serving your team, your community and the greater good is about empathy, integrity and resilience.’
“Graduation isn’t the finish line, it’s the launchpad,” said Gonzales. “Now is the time to take everything you have learned and put it into practice. Lean into the difficult conversations. Make time for reflection. Champion others. Be intentional about how you show up every day, because leadership is not a role you step into once; it’s a habit you choose again and again,” said Gonzales.
“Congratulations Team Synergy on this achievement. I am proud of who you’ve become, and even more excited about who you will inspire next,” he added.
After the graduation ceremony, students spoke about what they took away from the course of instruction and what benefitted them best.
Geena Hill, a Biologist and Project Manager, with the Mitigation Programs Team from the Regulatory Division, based in Gainesville, Fla. 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 and build on her confidence.
Kathryn (Katie) Lebow, a Senior Biologist with the Jacksonville District Planning Division, specializing in Coastal and Navigation NEPA projects across Florida. She gained confidence and team building skills.
“This has been a great experience, and this Is an opportunity I’ll forever remember,” said Lebow.
Megan Parsons, a Natural Resources Specialist-Park Ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the W.P. Franklin South Recreation Area in Alva, Fla., said the program increased her self-awareness and understanding of her individual strengths and is looking forward to helping other through her experience.
“This has been a great experience, and it helped me understand self-awareness,” said Parsons.
Angel Martinez, a Construction Control Representative with the USACE Everglades Agricultural Area Foundation Office. He credits the team with helping him grow professionally through projects and has a group of lifetime friends.
“It helped me on both professional and personal level,” said Martinez. “I have new friends for life and I’m grateful for this opportunity.”
Misty Cunningham, a Public Affairs Specialist, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District manages the district social media sites and covers public engagement events. She said she will use the information from LDP to engage with people who work at various jobs throughout the district.
“This has been a great experience for me to meet people, get a new appreciation and understanding of what people do at their various jobs around the district” said Cummingham. “I had the opportunity to meet people that work at different projects that I usually would have not gotten to know on a personal level,” said Cunningham.
Fagan said this Leadership Development program is one of many ways that the district continues to develop future leaders.
“This is an excellent opportunity for them to learn functional organizations,” she added.
Westcott told the team, LDP is an indicator that the agency values its employees through training and development which leads to a success-driven and a team with synergy.
"Synergy is a critical leadership skill,” said Westcott. "Synergy’ refers to the principle of two or more things working together to create an effect greater than the sum of their individual efforts. It involves leveraging diverse skills, open communication, mutual support and shared goals to achieve superior outcomes in innovation, problem -solving, and overall project success. The core principle is that the collective output of a synergistic team significantly exceeds what the members could achieve working alone."
2025 Class (TEAM SYNERGY) graduates: 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, 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.