Caleb McGever | Staff Writer
The Whitworth University Institute of Leadership has received a $500,000 grant from AgWest, a farm and agriculture credit company, in honor of their recently retired CEO Phil DiPofi.
Kevin Parker, chairman and founder of Whitworth’s Institute of Leadership, said AgWest has been extremely impactful to the Institute of Leadership.
DiPofi recently retired as CEO of AgWest but still sits on the Institute of Leadership’s advisory board.
“If it were not for AgWest, the institute would probably still be an idea, but because of them it got started really two years ahead of time and has caught a lot of steam and a lot of momentum. Everything we do started with the gift of AgWest.”
Parker explained, “The mission of the Institute of Leadership is to develop people who are going to assume leadership positions in their companies and organizations across the region with both a philanthropical and thoughtful approach.”
The Institute of Leadership is made up of a small select group of regional business professionals brought in by an invitation from the advisory board. The members take three intensive entrepreneurship courses focusing on the leadership of self, others and organizations. The focus on development and growth for these gifted fellows is meant to help them thrive and reach their full potential in their prospective fields. Graduates of the Institute of Leadership leave with new and vital connections to Whitworth.
The Institute of Leadership creates unique and valuable connections between people at Whitworth and business leaders across multiple industries. It also creates opportunities for guest speakers to visit Whitworth and talk to students.
Last year, the Institute of Leadership hosted Jaime Lerner, the CEO of Quantum which is a successful publicly traded data management company. This year, the Institute of Leadership brought in Tamrat Layne, the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, to give a special talk for Whitworth students on Tuesday, February 28.
More information about the institute can be found here.