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BUFFALO, NY — On Saturday, November 22, Open Buffalo’s ninth cohort of Emerging Leaders took the stage at Burchfield Penney Art Center to celebrate their completion of the program and share their innovative plans for increasing community representation and voice in the Buffalo City Charter revision process.

Recruited from diverse backgrounds across the Buffalo-Niagara Metro Area and representing fields from social work to healthcare, martial arts and beyond, the Emerging Leaders Class of 2025 have learned and co-created together since their opening retreat in August. They have developed knowledge and practiced skills in relationship building, community organizing, campaign strategy, effective storytelling, mobilizing people and resources, media literacy and media relations, entrepreneurship for systems change, and much more.

"Today, we are honored to recognize our dynamic and driven 2025 Class of Emerging Leaders," said Franchelle Parker, Open Buffalo Executive Director. "At its essence, the program that they have just completed is about more than just skill-building, networking, and mentorship. It's about community building. Our leaders forge bonds that can last a lifetime and go forth to build a better Buffalo."

Graduate LaTeesha McElrath, founder of Community Wellness Works, agreed: “The Emerging Leaders program gave me more than professional development, it gave me community. Our cohort built genuine connections that will last far beyond graduation.”

“Becoming an Emerging Leader led me to look inward and trust my personal truth,” said graduate Anthony Pierce. “It helped me shed the uncertainties of decisions, and to realize that I’m in a position for a particular reason, a particular lesson. And it felt refreshing to be amongst others who were also rising into a new lane of self-evidence.”

“Open Buffalo has taught me more than I ever knew about social injustice – and, more importantly, how to tackle it,” said graduate Cherelle Warren. “Through its Emerging Leaders program, I’ve grown as a leader and gained a deeper understanding of myself. This experience has been transformative.”

During the ceremony, the 2025 cohort launched their campaign to raise awareness about the Buffalo City Charter revision. Announced in April 2025 and led by 13 citizen Commissioners, the Charter Review Commission represents the community’s first opportunity in 25 years to improve the effectiveness and accountability of our local government by revising the City’s governing document (the local equivalent to a state or federal constitution). Buffalo voters will have the opportunity to approve or reject the charter revisions on their November 2026 general election ballots.

Of the importance of the charter revision process, Emerging Leaders graduate Kareema Washington noted, “the charter revision process gives the community the power to change the rulebook that operates the city.”

Lashelle Roberson, Emerging Leaders graduate and founder of To Our Legacies and Legends (TOLL), said, the revisions to the charter “can be good or bad for the city, so it’s important for the people to influence the process to get the changes we want.”

The Emerging Leaders urge Buffalo residents to make their voices heard by attending one or more of the Review Commission’s public hearings to ask questions and offer suggestions. The next public hearing is scheduled for 6:00pm on December 4th, at the Tosh Collins Community Center, 35 Cazenovia St., Buffalo, NY 14210.

About Emerging Leaders

Emerging Leaders is a 4-month leadership development program focused on creating positive social change and building a thriving community for all in Western New York. From 2015 to today, we have trained over 200 up-and-coming changemakers representing under-resourced communities throughout the Buffalo-Niagara Metro Area. The Emerging Leaders Program connects leaders with the skills and networks they need to build their platform and their power and exercise their leadership in the public sphere.

The mission of the Emerging Leaders Program is to unlock the power we hold in our communities and transform systems of oppression into systems of opportunity and abundance. To do this, we:

• Develop leaders from communities impacted by racial, economic, and ecological injustices
• Resource them with the tools and networks to drive systems change
• Create pathways for them to take on leadership roles in community, nonprofit, and government sectors.

Our vision is an empowered, democratic society where everyone has access to the knowledge and resources to participate fully in civic life and directly impacted people are fully represented at all levels of decision making.