Southern Miss and Gulf Coast Business Council Partner to Launch Executive Leadership Academy

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:21am | By: Jennifer Rigney

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) and the Gulf Coast Business Council (GCBC) have entered into a strategic partnership to launch the Executive Leadership Academy (ELA)–an education initiative designed to foster transformative leadership across the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The partnership was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed April 24 at the GCBC’s monthly membership meeting. This collaborative effort marks a significant milestone in strengthening professional development and leadership capacity for the region’s current and emerging business leaders.

The Executive Leadership Academy will be housed at the Southern Miss Gulf Park campus in Long Beach and will feature a comprehensive curriculum delivered over a nine-month period. Designed by the university’s Executive Education program, the ELA will include at least 60 hours of face-to-face instruction led by highly qualified faculty and industry experts.

Key highlights of the Executive Leadership Academy include:

• A curriculum grounded in leadership best practices and tailored to the Gulf Coast business environment
• Tuition scholarships provided for classes exceeding enrollment benchmarks
• A continuing education certificate and digital badge issued by Southern Miss

• Recognition of program graduates at a GCBC-hosted event 

Southern Miss President Dr. Joe Paul emphasized the significance of the initiative.

“This is a true partnership for progress. By aligning the strengths of our university’s academic leadership with the Gulf Coast Business Council’s commitment to uniting regional leaders and driving growth and opportunity along the coast, we are investing in the future of our region. The Executive Leadership Academy will be a game-changer for leadership development along the coast,” said Paul.

The GCBC will play a vital role in shaping the ELA by helping identify curriculum topics, recruiting participants, and celebrating the accomplishments of program graduates. Tuition for the academy will be based on class size and will include flexible payment options to accommodate employers and participants.

“We are excited about this unique partnership with the Gulf Coast Business Council to deliver an Executive Leadership Academy for coastal businesses. The academy will employ a cadre of thought leaders and subject matter experts to deliver a dynamic curriculum that emphasizes active and experiential learning strategies and the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, to achieve specific performance outcomes that improve organizational success,” said Dr. Jeff Hinton, USM associate provost for Gulf Coast and lifelong learning success.

Program collaboration and planning for the ELA’s inaugural cohort will begin this summer.

About the Gulf Coast Business Council
The Gulf Coast Business Council brings top executives of businesses both large and small together to be the united voice on public policy issues important to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The GCBC provides leadership in areas of public policy including governmental and legislative affairs, military and defense related industry, economic development, infrastructure, education, workforce development and regional leadership development. This organization works to align the interests of all communities in the three coastal counties and will represent them with one strong and united voice in Jackson and in Washington D.C. GCBC succeeds with its regional agenda because of its focus on public policy and other strategic issues. The unification of top business leaders from all industry sectors across the Mississippi Gulf Coast means the GCBC membership represents more than 75% of the entire employed workforce in the region.