Brent Campbell

At the time, the program required an overnight stay. My roommate was William Penn — now Chief Penn of the Winston-Salem Police Department. Another classmate I had never met before was Joshua Swift, Forsyth County’s Health Director. At the time, they were simply fellow classmates. I had no idea how significant those relationships would later become.

Then came the spring of 2020. COVID reshaped our world overnight, and the school district and health department became linked in ways we had never experienced. Because of the relationship I had built with Joshua, our communication and coordination were stronger, faster, and rooted in trust during one of the most challenging public health crises of our time.

In the fall of 2021, tragedy struck again when a school shooting rocked our district. The relationships formed through Leadership Winston-Salem proved invaluable once more.

Working closely with then Assistant Chief Penn during that crisis and others required transparency, alignment, and trust. When he was later named Chief, the partnership between our organizations only grew stronger and I had a trusted colleague and friend to call whenever the stakes were high.

So what did I truly learn at Leadership Winston-Salem?

You never know who you’re going to meet — or how those relationships, built in ordinary moments, will sustain you in extraordinary ones. The connections formed in that class became partnerships in crisis and friendships for a lifetime. And that lesson has proven more valuable than anything I could have anticipated.