HUNTSVILLE, AL – In January 2019, Emily Cook, QED’s President and CEO, was chosen to participate in Leadership Greater Huntsville’s Leadership Flagship Program. This year’s annual Flagship program runs from August 2019 to May 2020. This program serves the greater Huntsville area and “provides in-depth knowledge of our community and facilitates small group projects that give back,” according to the Leadership Greater Huntsville website.

Not only is this an incredible opportunity to meet other established business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs from around Huntsville, but the program also allows Dr. Cook to serve the community in which she lives and works. As part of the program, Dr. Cook will participate in a small group project. Each Leadership Small Group will design, develop, and implement an initiative to address a need identified by the group. Dr. Cook’s group is pursuing ways to better connect teens in the Huntsville area with mental health resources.

Leadership Greater Huntsville’s mission to provide training to potential and current community and corporate leadership allows participates to study critical aspects of the local community, including “Economic Base/Innovation, Education, Human Services, Healthcare, Local, State and Federal Government and Public Safety.” Cook and her fellow 2019 Flagship class spend time each month learning about the local area and how to be leaders in the context of the expansion and growth that characterizes Huntsville today. Each of the monthly day-long meetings highlights a different aspect of the community. In October the group learned about health care resources in the area by touring Huntsville Hospital, Crestwood, and Hudson Alpha Institute.

Dr. Cook is excited to continue to learn leadership skills that she can apply to all aspects of her life, as CEO, volunteer, or parent.