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Logo Connections for Community Leadership Engaging People in the Adventure of Leadership

Newsletter 3-2
January - March 2007

 

Welcome | New This Quarter | Last Quarter Highlights | Featured Leader | Announcements | Join CCL | Subscribe

Welcome

Welcome to the Connections for Community Leadership newsletter.  These newsletters will be published quarterly and will be used to update the community on developments within CCL, as well as feature individuals, groups, and organizations that are taking leadership to a new definition.   Subscription information can be found at the end of this newsletter and all issues will also be available on our website.

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New This Quarter

CCL Goes National

CCL recently submitted a proposal to present at the 2007 National Council on Independent Living Conference in Washington, D.C.  The purpose of this workshop is to inform the future leaders of the history of the movement, help them see themselves as leaders, motivate them to become the new leaders, and learn how CCL can be a model for leadership development across the county.  We are pleased to announce that our workshop has been selected and we look forward to traveling to D.C. in July. 

Leadership Development Seminars

Connections for Community Leadership and Michigan Disability Rights Coalition present a Leadership Development Seminar for organizers promoting disability leadership. This seminar will cover leadership, teaching leadership skills, and give an introduction to the We Lead! Curriculum.

Note: This seminar is geared for community organizers and grassroots advocates who are interested in promoting disability leadership such as RICC’s, ARC’s, CIL’s, CMH’s, and ISD’s.

The seminar will be offered at 2 different dates and locations:

April 12, 2007 – Gaylord – Registration deadline – April 5TH

May 10, 2007 – Marquette –Registration deadline – May 3RD

There is a $25 registration fee per participant for lunch and a copy of the We Lead! Curriculum. For more information or to register, please call 1-866-532-2669 or email leadership@prosynergy.org.

Online Developments

Read and Download Leadership Development Curriculum

CCL created a leadership development curriculum entitled “We Lead!”  This curriculum offers information about disability history, pride, and leadership skills.  Participants practice this knowledge as they work together to identify, organize, and deliver a community service project.  The curriculum has been revised based on feedback from agencies that have implemented the program and the updated version of the curriculum is now available to view and/or download on our website.  If you do not have access to the internet or would like to request a copy of the curriculum, call 1-866-532-2669.  They are available on CD for free or in print for $20.

Funding for Leadership Development Initiatives

CCL has small amounts of funding to support local leadership initiatives.  As you may recall, last summer we funded 8 local organizations in their efforts to develop leadership in their community.  We will be doing this again for 2007 leadership programs.  Watch for the Request for Proposals (RFP’s) that will be distributed in March.  If your organization is interested in receiving funding and you have not received an RFP, please contact Carolyn Lejuste at 1-800-760-4600 extension 321 or clejuste@prosynergy.org.

Part-Time Staff

CCL has hired 2 part-time support staff to assist with research, data entry, outreach, and other essential tasks to the functioning of CCL.  Please welcome:

Leigh Earl

Leigh's pictureMy name is Leigh and I have Cerebral Palsy which affects my speech and my movements. I am a mother of a beautiful 14 year old daughter. My mother started me on the road of advocacy and leadership. She kept me home when the doctors advised her to put me in an intuition and go on with her life. In 1969, I was the first child with a disability to be mainstreamed in Connecticut public schools. When I was 17, I escaped the nursing home only two years after my mother had put me there. I went on the offences by telling the media I was afraid that the Michigan Child Protection Agency would take my baby just because I had a disability. This put a spotlight on the government before the baby was even born. They had to argue they wouldn’t take my baby unless there was proof of abuse and/or neglect.

Shana Holet

Shana with sign for Ablers Club of SVSUMy name is Shana Holet and I am a third year Social Work Major and Political Science Minor student at Saginaw Valley State University. I am a person with disabilities and I have been involved with disability activism since I was a freshman. My passion is working within the disability community for social change, but one of my goals is to expand beyond the disability community and also work for social change in other areas. I describe myself as, “Feisty and Non-Compliant”. I also love spending time with friends and family, curling up on the couch watching a good movie, scrap booking, and being spontaneous trying whatever new adventures come my way.

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Last Quarter Highlights

Michigan Rehabilitation Conference

CCL staff presented a workshop entitled “You Can be a Leader of the 21st Century” at the 2006 Michigan Rehab Conference in Traverse City, Michigan.  Over 30 attendees received an overview of the disability rights movement and its leaders; an introduction to disability pride and culture; and learned about CCL and how to get involved in disability leadership. 

TASH Conference

CCL staff ventured to Baltimore, Maryland to attend the Annual TASH Conference.  The TASH Conference mobilizes vast numbers of folks from around the world together in a common experience of belief ~ belief in the presumed competence of every person and in the View of Baltimore

powerful role that every person can play in empowering people with disabilities and their families to build the life of their choosing.  Along with learning from very informative workshops, CCL staff made connections with other disability leaders throughout the country and look forward to working with them on leadership development.

Teaching Today’s Youth

CCL staff has been working with generic leadership programs to include disability in their leadership programs.  This past quarter, CCL had the wonderful opportunity to work with 2 leadership programs:

Generation of Promise

Generation of Promise works with seventeen member high schools whose diversity represents the various communities present in metropolitan Detroit.  Each year, several juniors from each member school are selected to participate based on academic merit, leadership potential, and interest in community betterment.  Students meet for the first time at an orientation event in August and then monthly during the school year for facilitated field trip days, each session studying a different theme (cultural diversity, critical issues, community service, etc.).  This year, disability was a theme for a day and CCL staff member Melinda Haus-Johnson presented to these outstanding high school juniors.  They had well thought-out questions and a willingness to examine their own ableism that was amazing.  To learn more about Generation of Promise, visit their website at www.generationofpromise.org or call 313-494-4565.

Cranbrook Peace Foundation’s Youth Leadership Project

The Youth Leadership Project (YLP) engages young people to be active citizens and effective participants in a democratic society, through shared adventures, life experiences and education in human rights, the environment and globalization. Their motto is building a just and equitable future.  They aim to empower youth to make a difference.  Youth share adventures which are designed to create a community of student leaders who will share their experiences with their classmates in the form of stories, discussions, editorials, and action.  CCL staff member Theresa Squires was honored to share her stories with YLP participants and to help raise their awareness about disability issues.  Their honesty and willingness to take action against ableism was remarkable.  To learn more about the Cranbrook Peace Foundation’s YLP, visit their website at  www.cranbrookpeace.org or call 248-641-8374.

Featured Leader

This quarter we would like to feature a partnership between CCL and the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion.  The Michigan Roundtable for Diversity & Inclusion is a non-profit human relations organization that seeks to eliminate discrimination and racism by working proactively across racial, religious, ethnic, and cultural boundaries. The Michigan Roundtable assists in building more inclusive communities, businesses, and institutions through diversity training, advocacy, conflict Participants of Michigan Roundtableresolution, interfaith collaboration, youth leadership training, and community dialogue.  The Michigan Roundtable has taken great strides to include disability into their diversity programs.  Together with CCL, they have taught teachers of Detroit Public Schools how to infuse disability into the curriculum, began making their leadership camp accessible, started to recruit people with disabilities to be mentors in their programs, included disability education in their LINC Institute for Educators, and much more.  We are proud to be partners with such an amazing organization.  For more information about the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, visit their website at www.nccj-mi.org or call 313-870-1500.

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Announcements

2007 Walk N Roll

March 24, 2007 – 11:00am until 2:00pm – Holt High School Gymnasium

The Walk N Roll is a fun event for all ages that gives community members an opportunity to participate in activities and entertainment including: walking/rolling Walk N Roll Participantson an indoor track, participating in social justice awareness activities, door prize drawings and 50/50 raffle, food, vendors, mingling with local mascots, live music, rugby and murderball demonstrations, a wheelchair obstacle course, face painting, clowns, and much more, all while promoting physical fitness, community involvement, and social justice/disability awareness! 

The event is barrier-free and open to everyone. Participation is by donation only. Complete program details can be found at www.walknroll.org or by contacting Tasha Kelley at 517-371-4872 or tasha@misilc.org.   Host organizations include Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, Michigan Statewide Independent Living Council, Capital Area Center for Independent Living, and Leaven.

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Join CCL

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Subscribe

To subscribe to the CCL newsletter, please send an email to leadership@prosynergy.org with "Subscribe" in the subject line. If you need to receive the newsletter in an alternative format such as large print or plain text, please note that in the email or call 1-866-532-2669.

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Connections for Community Leadership is funded by the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council.

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