The Emerging Leaders Program

We believe the hidden strength of our community lies within our generations to come. To tap this potential, we offer a FREE executive leadership program for young professionals with fewer than 10-15 years of professional experience. Through three full-day workshops, we empower our leaders with the tools and skills to advance our community. Each of our young professionals is paired with a mentor from our community who will help them navigate the early stages of their careers.

The Program

The purpose of our Emerging Leaders Program is to identify and develop leaders who are the lifeblood of many organizations. This is especially true in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. Over the years, numerous AANHPI community organizations have expressed concerns regarding the lack of culturally sensitive leadership programs available to train AANHPI youth and young adults.

The AANHPI Leadership Program was designed to develop next level leadership skills of AANHPI who are entering into their career, by providing leadership training, support, and opportunities. The purpose of this program is to build bridges from one AANHPI generation to another to help these emerging leaders become successful in their personal and professional lives and to strengthen their communities through service, engagement, and education.

This unique leadership program combines cutting-edge practices in emotional intelligence, conversational intelligence, personal branding, and neuroscience with AANHPI cultural nuances that are interwoven throughout.

2024 Program Dates

*Please note that you MUST commit to all 3 all-day to be accepted for the program.

Saturday, October 12th

Saturday, November 16th

Saturday, January 18th

Graduation, TBD Spring 2025

The location for workshops will be in Denver.

Please plan for each workshop to take place all day:
9AM - 5PM

Drinks, Lunch, & Snacks will be provided

Giving Back through Community Projects

At the end of the program, each ELPer (leader) will develop and execute a community project (leaders are encouraged to give back to the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival by taking on a key operations team member position). The purpose of this community project is to give back to our AANHPI community to showcase their support and dedication to the community. Each ELPer will present on their community project at graduation.

The graduation date will be voted on by the cohort to ensure there is enough time for each project

Bridging Generations through Mentorship

Each participant will be matched with a mentor within the community to guide them as they plan and carry out the community project, learn from the training sessions and create their personal development plan.

BECOME A

SPONSOR

Colorado Dragon Boat, the 501(c)3 non-profit behind the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, the Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival, the Riverdale Regional Park Dragon Boat Regatta is proud to present the 6th installation of the AANHPI Emerging Leaders Program!

  • We believe the hidden strength of our community lies within our generations to come. To tap this potential, we offer a free executive leadership program for young professionals with fewer than 10-15 years of professional experience. Through three full-day workshops, we empower our young leaders with the tools and skills to advance our community. Each of our young professionals is paired with a mentor from our community who will help them navigate the early stages of their careers. 

  • Thank you for considering a partnership with our community and Emerging Leaders Program. In the following Sponsorship Guide, you will find different opportunities to support our young leaders in becoming effective and responsible leaders!

Erin Yoshimura

Emerging Leaders Empowerment Coach

Erin Yoshimura designs and presents the workshops for the Emerging Leaders Program. She is the Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Empowerful Changes, LLC, and empowers clients through leadership and diversity training, and executive coaching. She’s created training programs for clients including KUSA-9News, Raytheon, IBM, Comcast-NBC Universal, Toyota, Charles Schwab, SCFD (Scientific & Cultural Facilities District), Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Erin trains and coaches executives for Los Angeles-based LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc). She is a certified emotional intelligence trainer and certified professional coach and earned a certificate in Foundations of Neuro-Leadership through the NeuroLeadership Institute. She also received a certificate in Mindful Facilitation through Stirfry Seminars and Founder Lee Mun Wah (Color of Fear), a nationally-recognized master in diversity and communications training. Erin recently earned certificates in Diversity & Inclusion and Conflict Resolution from Cornell University. Her career before becoming a trainer and coach was in high tech, where she was an East Asian product manager, IT project manager, and IT change manager. Erin served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival for seven festivals after serving as a volunteer since the inaugural year. She combines her corporate and non-profit experience and her passion for equity and inclusion with training and coaching to teach empowerful leadership and cultural agility skills.