Case Study
Community Leadership Institute
Overview
The Reality: College completion takes a village
Working in high schools for over a decade as a college counselor, I saw filling out a FAFSA and college applications are not enough. Young people need to love themselves and have access to local networks and mentors to be able to build the future they want.
The Approach: Listening and having transformational conversations
I founded the Community Leadership in 2016 to create this culture of youth awareness and power across Richmond. Along with developing an understanding of their community, students gain communication and networking skills, strategies and levers for making change, and build their own action plan to address a current social justice issue in Richmond.
Outcome
Students learn who they want to be and to recognize the connection between their own power and their local community.
96% of participants say that post-program, they know how to make the change in Richmond that they want to see.
90% see themselves to be a leader more than when they started, and 75% are much more comfortable taking on leadership roles than pre-program.
Lastly, 60% were more likely to go to college after high school at the end of program than at the beginning.
Press on CLI: CFF Article
Testimonials
“I want to be someone who comes back to my roots. I can encourage students from Richmond to succeed. I want to focus more on trauma in classrooms so students feel valued, be more confident and direct when I see social issues that need to be addressed, and collaborate with Richmond partners”
— Latrinity Gulley, Y2 Fellow