The 2016 Emerging Leaders, workshop trainers, and Open Buffalo staff are all smiles at the end of a challenging opening weekend.
Emerging Leaders 2016 Kicks Off!
Published October 4, 2016
Open Buffalo kicked off the 2016 session of Emerging Leaders on Friday, Sept. 9, officially marking the 2nd year of the program. Emerging Leaders is a first-of-its-kind leadership development school which aims to build a stronger Buffalo by empowering new change-makers in our city. Those who have been accepted into the 2016 EL class will complete an innovative curriculum that combines cutting-edge community organizing training, action-oriented research, and interpersonal skill-building.
After reviewing the feedback from last year, the Leadership Development Committee decided to re-structure opening weekend. Changes include: personalizing curriculum from the Leading Change Network to establish a shared understanding of the systems of oppression, while grasping an understanding of leadership and organizing. Over an intensive, 22-hour weekend gathering, Emerging Leaders learned: how to forge emotional connections to their work by sharing stories of what called them to leadership; how to motivate community solidarity and action; how to build the skills of their constituencies one person at a time; and how to plan campaigns that turn community resources into power and results.