AKA’s Leadership Fellows Program and Virtual Conference - Elicia Pegues Spearman
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA) is the first African-American Greek Lettered Sorority founded in 1908. This year’s Leadership Fellows Program and Conference was originally to be held in Atlanta in May 2020, but the pandemic altered the original plan. However, the Leadership Fellows Committee was agile and re-created the program so it could be a virtual success story on delivering excellent content in an engaging and fun format. A positive & innovative change agent, Elicia Pegues Spearman, as Chairman of the AKA Leadership Fellows Committee, used her executive leadership skills and sheer determination to ensure the 2020 Cohort of Fellows’ experience as a part of the first AKA virtual Leadership Fellows Conference was phenomenal.
The AKA Leadership Fellows Committee is driven to cultivate leaders through a holistic and dynamic curriculum. Participants engage in intense leadership development training with a three-prong skills objective — leadership development, career development, and personal development. The committee is also driven to raise funds to endow their Leadership Fellows Boule/Leadership Seminar Fund which was established in May 2018 to ensure that undergraduates continue their leadership training at national AKA conferences.
The Leadership Pipeline is producing successors and professionals on the move. The AKA Board of Directors has three positions reserved for undergraduates and for the last three terms, they have been filled primarily by graduates of the Leadership Fellows Program.
As a C-Suite executive with extensive expertise in Legal and Human Resources, Elicia is an enthusiastic and motivated strategic business partner. She was previously recognized in 2019 among the “Most Influential Women in Corporate America” by Savoy Magazine and was featured in the GetFive Executive HR series.
Elicia strives to give back to the community as a board director, panelist, public speaker, and facilitator. She is an active member and local, regional, and national leader in many of her organizations. Elicia was initially appointed to serve as the Chairman of the Leadership Fellows Committee in 2014, and will finish her 2018–2022 term, under AKA International President and CEO Dr. Glenda Glover in just a few years.
“I became a member of our sorority while I was an undergraduate at Wellesley College. I have a special fondness for undergraduates and their development. Our committee and faculty share all of our lessons learned through our personal and career journeys and package it to make sure we give our Fellows the best information so they can soar. They are our legacies and leaders.” - Elicia Pegues Spearman.
