EDUCATING & EMPOWERING NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERS
Critical Issues.
Community Impact.
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation launched the Community Development Corporation Leadership Program in order to build capacity and bolster the CDC leadership sector to enhance neighborhoods in the City of Cleveland.
The Community Development Corporation Leadership Program (CDCLP) is designed to enhance the leadership of Community Development Corporation (CDC) leaders working in CDCs city-wide. The CDCLP is a fourteen-session, ten-month leadership training program designed to enhance specific skills of leaders who are currently engaged in the Community Development Corporation community. Program sessions include subject areas such as leadership skill development, governing CDCs and equitable community engagement. Additionally, program participants work with CDCLP coaches to ensure that what is being learned in their sessions is being applied in their everyday operations. Program participants are also eligible to apply for a grant to help their CDC through their participation through CDCLP.
"I believe that, in all organizations, the path to the future is more a function of the quality of its leadership than any other factor."
— MORT MANDEL
JOE, MORT AND JACK MANDEL
Image ©2007 Nannette Bedway
The CDCLP builds on the Mandel Foundation’s success with the Neighborhood Leadership Development Program (NLDP), a unique program designed to enhance the diverse leadership abilities of engaged Clevelanders who are committed to creating a city and region which works for everyone. To date, NLDP has graduated over 300 community leaders who are active contributors to Cleveland’s neighborhoods.
Following the success of NLDP in Cleveland and the Mandel Foundation’s leadership programs in Israel and in Boston, the Foundation formed a working group of CDC leaders to determine whether or not the lessons learned in operating its current leadership development programs could be applied to an effort designed to increase the leadership capacity of CDC leaders and the organizations they serve.
After a two-year long process, the Mandel Foundation designed the CDC Leadership Program to enhance the quality and capacity of leaders in the Community Development Corporation community.
CDCLP Building Better Neighborhoods