McLauchlan Family Extends Their Partnership with Poole College of Management

In 2015, Russ McLauchlan, executive chairman and founder of Calvert Holdings, saw the need for corporate development of high potential individuals on basic leadership capabilities. McLauchlan and his wife, Cara, looked towards the Poole College of Management Jenkins MBA Program to develop the McLauchlan Leadership Series, a professional development program that supports graduate-level leadership education. 

“I was looking at it as a substitute for what had been a very structured corporate approach to developing their talent early on in their careers,” said McLauchlan. “It seemed to be absent because a lot of changes were taking place so going to the Jenkins MBA Program within Poole College only became a happenstance.”

Five years later, 127 Jenkins MBA students have received the honor of being named a McLauchlan Fellow thanks to the generous gift from the McLauchlan family. Students in the program build their professional network and experience unique coaching and leadership development to further their career and earn a leadership certificate issued by the Jenkins Graduate School of Management. The program covers personal leadership, team leadership and organizational leadership through executive interaction and coaching as well as the Personal Leadership Challenge. 

Russ and Cara McLauchlan have worked closely with Poole College executive leadership to develop the transformative program that has now become an integral part of the college.

“The impact of the McLauchlan Leadership Series supports our efforts towards creating a stronger Pack community, and helps Poole College develop the next generation of leaders,” said Brian Clark, executive director of development and external relations. “We are so grateful to Russ and Cara for their leadership and support in our students’ success.” 

The McLauchlans’ best memories from each of the five fellows classes come from the last session prior to graduation when the students and faculty gather near their home in Raleigh.

“A few days before graduation, we all get together by where we live on the lake and the emotions everyone expresses are moving,” said McLauchlan. “You can just see people are happy in their lives and careers. This event, I would say, is probably how we measure the success of the program.”

You can just see people are happy in their lives and careers. This event, I would say, is probably how we measure the success of the program.

These moments are what brought the McLauchlan family to the decision to extend the current partnership with Poole College and expand the work of the McLauchlan Leadership Series even further. Looking towards the future, the McLauchlan family wants to broaden the diversity of backgrounds of fellow students who can benefit from the program and increase the presence of Poole College at NC State.

“I’d like to see Poole College transfer some of its programming within the business school to other colleges on campus. I believe there are a lot of students that could benefit from a program like this,” said McLauchlan.

“Eventually, I think what Poole College should be is an influencer in management and leadership skills throughout the university.”

As Poole College of Management welcomes the 2020-21 McLauchlan Fellows, the college is hopeful and excited to be moving forward with the McLauchlan Leadership Series in the next five years.

This post was originally published in Poole College of Management News.