Cultivating Community Leaders in Oak Ridge, TN

Learn from three participants in the Leadership Oak Ridge program about what it takes to make a positive impact on the city.

By Lindsey Hyde on June 7, 2023

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Oak Ridge’s storied past is lined with moments of great innovation. Not only did it play a role in developing the first atomic bomb, but it’s linked to the creation of touch screens, safer vaccines and longer-lasting artificial joints.

Fast forward to today, and the city remains a hub for innovation, as it is home to scientists, mathematicians, engineers, educators, artists and others who are making strides in their lines of work – and their lives outside of work. Expansive green spaces, award-winning public schools and new residential offerings are all the results of locally-led collaboration.

This collection of leaders did not come together by happenstance. In fact, the city is known for priming residents to make a difference in their community. Take Leadership Oak Ridge, for example.

This flagship program of the Center for Leadership & Community Development is designed to teach participants about issues facing Oak Ridge and how they can best intervene. Made up of full-day sessions, overnight trips and out-of-class assignments, the nine-month program has produced more than 1,000 graduates and is one of the longest-running community leadership programs in the country.

To better understand its impact, we sat down with three participants to learn about their experiences and how they are applying their skills.

‘It Helped Me Focus’

Since high school, Lauren Gray, the City of Oak Ridge’s senior communications specialist, has served in leadership positions. She participated in student council, and in college, she joined a service and leadership fraternity.

After finding out about Leadership Oak Ridge when she moved to the area from Knoxville in 2020, she knew she had to participate. In August of 2022, she embarked on the nine-month journey, and she’s seen several benefits. For example, she’s connected with multiple community members as well as learned more about volunteer opportunities, the city’s history and her specific leadership style.

“At the beginning of the program, we do a personality assessment – the DiSC assessment,” she says. “You can figure out how you are as a person and a leader and how your personality can (influence how you work with others). … It really has helped me focus on how I can utilize how I am as a person and become a better leader.”

‘I Wanted to Learn More’

For nearly 13 years, Michael Russell and his wife, Paige, have called Oak Ridge home. While she worked in the area, he often traveled around the country for his job.

In 2018, however, he took a position at Strata-G, a company known for performing critical operations for federal, state, academic, commercial and public utility clients. Soon thereafter, Russell felt the urge to take part in Leadership Oak Ridge, and he became a participant in 2020.

“I wanted to learn more about the area, the companies involved and some of the issues involving Oak Ridge and eastern Tennessee,” he says.

Since graduating, Russell says he has not only utilized his leadership skills at work, but he has also remained involved in the community, including serving on Leadership Oak Ridge’s advisory board and now as its chairman.

Moving forward, he says he plans to “challenge and mentor young adults and encourage people to come into the Oak Ridge and eastern Tennessee community.”

‘Rite of Passage’

As a native of Roane County who has worked in Oak Ridge for many years for the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee (CROET), Teresa Frady knew it was time to participate in Leadership Oak Ridge.

“It’s kind of like a rite of passage to go through Leadership Oak Ridge if you’re a leader in Oak Ridge,” says Frady, who started the program in 2021 and became CROET’s president and CEO in 2022.

Over the course of the program, Frady says she was introduced to city leaders, learned about city and state government, toured various facilities around the area, visited local museums and discovered issues facing the community.

In Oak Ridge, both the American Museum of Science and Energy and the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association pay tribute to the movers and shakers that came before people like Frady.

“(The program) helped me to strengthen my overall leadership skills to be more in tune with what’s going on and be more helpful in the community,” she says.

“It’s a big community, and we need to all work together. And if we do, we can accomplish a lot more.” In her leadership position at CROET, Frady takes what she’s learned, working to create a model of reindustrialization and a network of greenways at what was once the former US Department of Energy complex.