View the participants from this class.


The inaugural graduating class of ConnectionsSC 2016 

With help from Duke Energy and a matching grant program for Duke employees, the Riley Institute launched ConnectionsSC in 2016. Modeled after the Institute’s Diversity Leaders Initiative, ConnectionsSC brings educators and law enforcement officials together over the course of five months to participate in discussion and case studies designed to help them gain tools to lead effectively in their increasingly diverse communities. Grouped together by school district, educator and law enforcement teams work together on community action projects that benefit students and the community.

ConnectionsSC was launched in the wake of the 2015 church shootings in Charleston as a means for Duke Energy to invest in long-term, systemic work to promote diversity and civic participation in South Carolina. The first ConnectionsSC class graduated in December of 2016 and the second began in August of 2017, bringing the total number of participants to about 75 across 13 school districts throughout the state.

To read more about the gift and the work, click here.

To learn more about ConnectionsSC 2016, including class members and community action projects, click here.

To read about the Duke Energy-funded expansion of the Riley Institute’s Emerging Public Leaders program for rising high school seniors, click here.