News

By Monica Wrobel

On Saturday, December 8, 2018, Open Buffalo honored 35 outstanding individuals who successfully graduated as Emerging Leaders and Democracy Fellows. With more than 175 friends, relatives, and allies in attendance, Open Buffalo’s 2018 Graduation Day highlighted both cohorts as changemakers who will inspire, organize, and innovate for the future of their communities. This year’s gathering also marked two incredible milestones for Open Buffalo’s Leadership Development division as a whole: the graduation of our 100^th Emerging Leader and first class of Democracy Fellows.

Open Buffalo increases our city’s population of skilled grassroots leaders through various community workshops and training programs. We teach residents how to mobilize their communities around equity issues and to take on leadership roles in community, nonprofit, and government sectors. Emerging Leaders, our signature leadership development initiative, started in 2015 and has now graduated four cohorts. Participants commit to a rigorous four-month curriculum that introduces new frameworks and skills to recognize and build community resiliency against systemic injustice in Buffalo and beyond.

“It allowed me to further identify myself and the duty I hold to help speak for and activate the voiceless,” said Brian Archie, a 2018 Emerging Leader, reflecting on his experience in the program. “I found exposure to the history of Buffalo helps to better navigate the city’s current political and socioeconomic climate with tools to make solid, sound change.”

Where Emerging Leaders provides a strong foundation for residents of all backgrounds to begin building interpersonal skills and networks, the Democracy Fellows initiative is designed for individuals with more experience in social change work to take the next step – to develop new solutions that drive systems towards equity and inclusion. Candidates selected for this intensive fellowship use innovative strategies, research, and base-building tactics to create and implement a community-empowerment project.

During graduation, the inaugural class presented the outcomes of their fellowship year. With the benefits of in-class instruction, individual mentorship, and a stipend, fellows carried out projects that tackled diverse issue areas, including community-owned businesses; youth education and organizing; arts advocacy for domestic violence survivors; women’s professional development; and organizing and self-advocacy among people with disabilities. Through comprehensive support and skills training offered from Open Buffalo, the Democracy Fellows are empowered to plan a sustainable model for their projects’ continued progress beyond the program.

For Mike Zak, a 2018 Democracy Fellow and 2015 Emerging Leader, working with Open Buffalo has been a humbling experience that has taught him how social change must be led directly by impacted communities. This paradigm shift reflects in the collaborative vision of his project – to partner with local, worker-owned businesses that will train youth on Buffalo’s East Side in urban agriculture and cooperative economics. During the fellowship year, Zak developed the curriculum for a nine-month training program and received a $100,000 Ignite Buffalo award to help sustain its growth.

“What I really learned throughout this work is that what you want isn’t always what everybody needs,” remarked Zak. “You have to meet people where they are at, organize with people … and move towards that path together.”

Graduating leaders and fellows were widely supported for this significant achievement by friends and family, alumni, and even local policymakers. In recognition of their successful completion of the program, each graduate received a plaque from Open Buffalo as well as proclamations from members of the Buffalo Common Council to commemorate this milestone.

This momentous occasion served as both a celebration and a commissioning of our graduates – to go forth and confidently utilize their education, tools, and resources for the work of empowering and uplifting everyday people and communities impacted by injustice.

“I look forward to seeing servant leaders and community leaders in the seats that change policies and laws for the greater good for many, if not all,” said Tara Craig, a 2018 Emerging Leader, as she spoke at graduation. “It is my hope and expectation that the 2018 class continues the relationships that have been created to answer the call to educate, empower, and be the change in this world that you want to see.”

The 2018 Emerging Leaders graduates are:

• Adrianne Adger
• Brian Archie
• Nicole Ball
• Kevin Berta
• Shyana Broughton
• Mike Brown
• Destani Cleveland
• TuWanner Cleveland
• Nakiea Cook
• Tara Craig
• Temara Cross
• Kenyana David
• Cherish Davis
• Krista Ehasz
• Kamau R. E. Fields
• De’Jon Hall
• Jay Hawkins, Sr.
• Jalonda Hill
• Nicole Holloway
• Derek D. Houston
• Duncan Kirkwood
• Sincere Lincoln
• Jordan Mitchell
• Kent Olden
• Latoya Shippy
• Suzann Tighe
• Todd Timmons, Jr.
• Baris Vahapoglu
• Arnester Vanoy
• Adrianna Viverette

2018 Democracy Fellows graduates are:

• Phylicia Brown
• Bernadette Giles
• Michelle Jones
• Andrew Marcum
• Mike Zak