Testimonials
Our class that just ended was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The last three scheduled field trips had to be canceled due to the Governor’s “Stay at Home” orders. Before I could fully grasp the situation, I was faced with, Mr. Johnson was already reaching out to me to offer program assistance. I worked with Mr. Johnson to coordinate a half-day virtual class to help reinforce all the class’s concepts in the final class meeting. Mr. Johnson also led a discussion with some of your newly elected leaders at the beginning of the class. One of those leaders, Mr. Chris Frye, was elected last year as the first African American Mayor of New Castle, PA. Mayor Frye was a member of our first leadership class and has told many people that being a part of our leadership class helped him to realize many of the things that needed to be addressed.
Mr. Johnson has been a part of the development and design of our nine-month evidence informed leadership development program that builds individual knowledge, skills, and self-efficiency in aspiring and community leaders. The program is a skilled building intensive with special attention to instructional delivery catered to adult learning preference. This is evident in each one of the sessions where participants can build on existing knowledge and use their experiences to create new knowledge relevant to their lives and the Lea County communities in New Mexico. Mr. Johnson creates experiential learning activities where participants can identify community leadership opportunities and the characteristics or traits of the ideal community leader, and effectively present where they see the community now and how they would like to help it transform with effective community leadership. Throughout his tenure in rural New Mexico, Mr. Johnson has trained approximately 100 leaders from unprecedented, diverse, backgrounds and industries.
The quality and significance of Terence’s professional service and outreach contributions has been vital not only across the United States, but has truly impacted Moultrie, GA. The young men that have participated in the Leadership Legends program have had their lives impacted drastically. Because of the program, the young men realized three critical things. 1. The need to seek out leadership roles and opportunities in the community as they continue to grow. 2. The need to realize the importance of their voice regarding the current issues in the community and speaking out. 3. The need to lead and give back in their community that they’ve grown up in and an obligation to help cultivate the next group of future leaders. Knowing that the young men we serve understand these three critical items mentioned, only validates the quality and significance of Mr. Terence Johnson. Terence’s contributions have helped make our organization become better leaders, which has allowed us to be an asset to Moultrie, GA., thus, allowing us to build and equip the youth. With Terence’s outreach contributions, we have begun to build a pipeline of African American leaders, which has been lacking in our community for many years. Because of the guidance and leadership of Terence, our communities have a leadership program implemented for many years to come, impacting generations of African American boys, turning them into Legends for Moultrie. The investment of Mr. Johnson has been profound in Moultrie, GA.
I have had the opportunity to participate in 2 governmental retreats that Terence Johnson facilitated. Terence's life experiences, wisdom and understanding of human nature brings a perspective that allows dysfunctional individuals and/or groups to look beyond their boundaries for the greater good of all. Terence has the keen ability through group dialogue to create a collaborative vision out of the chaos and self-interest. I would not hesitate to recommend Terence Johnson as a facilitator.
Please accept this letter of recommendation on behalf of Terence Johnson as he pursues a promotion at the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development. Terence is a remarkable leader in his field with proven knowledge and expertise that I was afforded the opportunity to witness firsthand, during a leadership summit here in New Castle, PA. Admittedly, meeting Terence was a fortuitous encounter, as I was pursuing candidacy for Mayor of the City of New Castle. New Castle is a distressed community north of metro Pittsburgh, PA, with a population of approximately 20,000 residents. Our community is dealing with a myriad of socio-economic, educational, and criminogenic issues and has lacked transformational leadership at the highest levels. Terence's acumen in leadership capacity building for underserved and underrepresented communities, collaborative leadership focus and ability to strengthen communities, organizations & individuals through skills development was of great benefit to me. Participating in this summit and where he demonstrated highly effective facilitation and engagement skills helped prepare me for my campaign.
