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

Information about the CCL

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong faith."
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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CCL Online Communities | Vision | Mission | Leadership Definition | Primary Functions | Goals | Guiding Principles and Values

What is Connections for Community Leadership?

Connections for Community Leadership (CCL) is a program that supports people with disabilities in becoming leaders of their communities.

CCL Highlights

2009 Summer Series of Leadership Seminars

CCL is offering a series of three seminars focusing on leadership development over the summer months.  The first seminar will examine the Lejuste Three Dimensions of Leadership and practice different methods of developing skills in the areas of self, community, and vision.  The second will explore specific ways to foster leadership development amongst participants in your program and identify the most critical roles of a facilitator.  The last seminar will look and the concepts of pride and power and their important role in leadership development while exploring ways to create pride and power amongst their program’s participants.  The seminars will be held on May 29, June 26, and July 31 and all will be located in East Lansing.  For more information or to register, please contact us.

Leadership Program Coordinators Roundtable

The leadership team also held its first, Leadership Program Coordinators Roundtable, 12 people attended the first gathering, including people from the DDC, SILC, Disability Networks, UCP, Michigan Works, CMHSAS, and MRS, with approximately 20 additional people interested in attending in the future, including people from generic leadership development programs. The next meeting is July 22, 2009. If you are interested in joining, please contact us.

At the Leadership Program Coordinators Roundtable's first meeting, we discovered a want and need for a second group for people with disabilities who are developing their own leadership skills. The Leadership Team will be putting together a second group and will be sending out information about that group in the future. If you are interested in joining this group, please contact us.

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Disability Network Michigan

This quarter, CCL staff has been working with Disability Network Michigan and the Peer Support workgroup to plan a statewide retreat. Unfortunately due to funding cuts, this event has been canceled. We are hopeful that in the future we will be able to collaborate with this group again.

Out of this work with the Peer Support workgroup, CCL staff are able to work with Jill Gerrie in including Proud and Powerful concepts in the Disability Network Michigan orientation trainings. We believe that we will continue working with Jill to make sure that all new staff in CILs learn about Disability Pride. The original plan for this training will include some of the Proud and Powerful activities that CCL staff has designed. For more about the Proud and Powerful concepts visit our website.

If you are interested in seeing or using any of the Proud and Powerful activities, please contact us. CCL believes that the Proud and Powerful initiative is a very important part of leadership development, helping people feel pride in who they are, helping them know they have voice and that they can use that voice to create change.

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Community Choice Act

On April 30, CCL staff and 20 people with disabilities from Michigan attended the Community Choice Act Rally in Washington, D.C. Senator Harkens came out to join the rally and gave an impressive speech on his dedication to the inclusion of Community Choice Act in health care reform. The rally was unfortunately cut short due to the weather but with our forces combined the attendees of the rally were able to meet with every representative to tell them why they should support the Community Choice Act, and explain why it is an important part of Health Care reform.
Since we have returned to Michigan, the white house has responded to the actions in DC by removing language about the Community Choice Act off their webpage and changing it to they support community inclusion. To read the change of language and the reaction for the disability community there is an article which also shows a side by side comparison of the webpage before and after.

On May 13, over 10,000 people across the nation called their senators to urge them to support the Community Choice Act. The clock is ticking on the inclusion of CCA in health care reform and many activists believe that if CCA is going to be passed now is the time it will happen. Have you called your senator today??? Debbie Stabenow is a supporter of the CCA, but Carl Levin is not. If you have not already contacted him, here is how: Phone (202) 224-6221, Fax (202) 224-1388, TTY (202) 224-2816.

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Family Leadership

While in Washington D.C., CCL presented at the Family Voices Conference to family members of people with disabilities. At this event we held a session on how family members can support disability pride in their children. The presentation was very well received and we were thanked profusely by Naomi Ortiz the Program Director of Kids As Self Advocates. After our presentation, the Executive Director of Family Voices came and found CCL staff and told us that she was supposed to be taking photos of all the presenters but she came into our presentation and just couldn’t leave. She was blown away with the presentation and wants to work with us in the future.

At the conference we also made connections with Michigan’s Family to Family and will have our first collaboration with them on May 15. CCL staff member Theresa Squires will be featured in a video they are creating. Theresa will be talking about identifying as a young adult with a mental health disability.

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Kids As Self Advocates

CCL staff presented at the Kids As Self Advocates national training in Washington D.C. on May 2. The presentation looked at Disability Pride, what it is, and the many ways people express their disability pride. After our presentation CCL staff were later informed that Proud and Powerful has been written into the KASA work plan. The KASA group decided they would reach there goals by working with CCL.

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Transitioning Youth

In March, CCL staff presented at the statewide Michigan Transition Services Association conference on Disability Pride and how service providers (MRS, educators, CIL staff, and Transition teams) can incorporate and support disability pride into their work. Since this presentation CCL has received two requests for further trainings, one for working with youth in a classroom and one for transition staff training.

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Proud of Myself

This past month CCL staff continued work with the Iosco RICC. At the last training session, the RICC members explored disability history and culture. The group participated in one of the leadership activities that looks at identity. The group loved it so much that the 7 members that were at the training took it back and taught the activity to the other 21 RICC members. That group hung their identity products up on the halls of the CMH building. The staff then took the activity and did it with the 50 people at their staff in-service, who then decided to do it with the 100 staff at the Oscoda and West Branch staff in-service.

The Iosco RICC has decided that their 4th of July float will have a theme of Proud and Powerful - “Who I am and How I make a Difference.”

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Get Involved - Be a Leader

CCL Online Communities

CCL has joined two online communities to help support leadership development.

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Vision

CCL believes each person should have the opportunities and supports to be a leader in the disability rights community and their home community.

Mission

To engage people with disabilities in the leadership process, support them as they participate, and provide tools to turn their vision into reality.

Leadership Definition

A leader is someone who knows oneself and is influential in his or her organization and/or in the greater community.

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What does Connections for Community Leadership Do?

LeaderLINKS

A database to connect people with disabilities to over 2,000 leadership opportunities and organizations throughout Michigan. More information about the database.

Leadership Development Training

Find and evaluate existing trainings, identify gaps, create trainings where they do not exist, and help local groups organize leadership development opportunities.  Learn more about training opportunities!

Supports and Connections

Assist leaders to fully participate in leadership opportunities, identify scholarship funds, help local groups provide accommodations, provide ongoing supports and follow-up after leadership opportunities, and offer emerging leaders networking and growth. More information about supports and connections.

College Organizations Networking Now Each Creating Ties (CONNECT)

Statewide network connecting college students with disabilities involved with student disability organizations on their campuses to each other and the resources available to them in their communities.  Learn more about CONNECT.

Informed Communities

Assist people with disabilities, their families, and their allies understand national, state, and local disability issues; participate in public policy discussions; and take action on issues that affect their lives. Learn more about informed communities.

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Goals

CCL works to create:

  • More inclusive communities.
  • A competent group of people committed to changing the system.
  • A network of allies creating system changes and building inclusive communities.
  • Organizations with the capacity and skills for supporting people with disabilities.
  • A network of people with disabilities who are knowledgeable about disability issues and who become leaders of their communities.
  • A group of young disability activists to carry on the work of Justin Dart, Ed Roberts, Judi Chamberlain, and other influential leaders in the disability rights movement.

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Guiding Principles and Values

Inclusion

Every member of the community has the opportunity to pursue a leadership position in an area of interest to them.

Community

As participants choose the community in which they desire to lead, they are also encouraged to be active members of the disability rights community.

Focus on People, Not Programs

Leadership development is more than education and training, the Center expects to develop ongoing supportive relationships with every participant.

Self-Excellence

To lead others and make a positive and lasting impact, you must know yourself. Personal mastery of self-esteem, self-knowledge, and self-direction, are central components of leadership development.

Transparency

Information and resources are easily and readily available to anyone seeking them.

Civil Rights

Recognizing the often unacknowledged contribution of disability history in public education, disability history and experience is related to both our participants and our partners.

Diversity

All people are valued. Differences in mental or physical disability, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, marital status, and religious or non-religious background are viewed as strengths.

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

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