Most big cities offer mid-career leadership programs, recruiting high-potential leaders to learn about government and nonprofit organizations and get involved with their communities. A growing number group of leadership organizations offer programs for more experienced leaders, with Cleveland Leadership’s Legacy Leaders program joining their ranks in May.
With funding from the Cleveland Foundation’s Encore program, Cleveland leadership recruited Senior Fellow Lenora Inez Brown to develop and lead the program. Beginning in December 2018, she organized focus groups, one-on-one meetings, and visioning sessions that culminated in a May 2019 launch breakfast hosted. Fifty people have expressed interest in participating; most are part of the launch cohort.
Since 2006 Cleveland Leadership Center (CLC) has educated, connected, inspired, and engaged leaders from high school to C-suite to drive positive community change, building a continuum of civic leaders committed to Cleveland’s excellence by serving as a catalyst for civic engagement.
The Legacy Leaders program expands CLC programming to include those who have retired or organize their days differently. Legacy Leaders provides individuals with opportunities to delve into civic activities and design their civic legacy footprint. The program works with proven Cleveland leaders looking for opportunities to connect with or create civic engagement projects that produce long-term change for people in Northeast Ohio.
Legacy Leaders projects are volunteer efforts focused on strategic thinking and teamwork.
Projects fall into one of four focus strategic areas:
- Social Entrepreneurism: Working with social entrepreneurs or organizations who proposed projects.
- Puerto Rico Service: Building upon CLC’s post-hurricane Maria relief efforts, this area includes service trips to Puerto Rico and work in Cleveland to support the local Puerto Rican community.
- Senior Fellows for the Advanced Leadership Institute, a multi-generational civic leadership program.
- Cleveland Forward: Creating and responding to submitted projects they believe will best serve Northeast Ohio’s future.
Projects will use a guiding framework for all CLC programs: civic understanding, relationship building, collaborative leadership, and civic readiness.
The program is quickly creating community among the leaders, identifying needs to address, and encouraging collaboration to lead change. Learn more and tell a Cleveland-area friend about Legacy Leaders here.
Published: July 17, 2019