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University of Virginia and City of Charlottesville Working in PartnershipInnovative Program Hones Grassroot Leadership Skills
July 19, 2002-- Ten
city residents have completed an innovative leadership-training
program developed by Charlottesville¹s Quality Community Council
and the University of Virginia¹s Institute for Public History. The
graduates will be honored at a dinner this Saturday night, July
20, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Monticello Event & Conference Center. Elaine Jones, president and director of the NAACP
Legal Defense Fund and the first African-American woman to graduate
from the U.Va. School of Law, will be the keynote speaker at the
dinner. ³We
were thrilled to have been selected by the Institute for Public
History as a partner in this very exciting project,² said Karen
Waters, Quality Community Council director and the moving force
behind the program. ³This initiative shows how the University and
the community can work together for positive change. The participants
formed a cohesive unit across neighborhoods and came away empowered.² The
six-week leadership development program is based on interviews conducted
by U.Va. faculty member and civil rights leader Julian Bond for
the Institute for Public History¹s ³Explorations in Black Leadership²
series. The curriculum covers such topics as neighborhood history,
strategic vision and organizational development, and includes interviews
with Mary Futrell, a nationally recognized educator; Earl Graves,
publisher of Black Enterprise magazine; and Elaine Jones. ³The
interviews we've created as part of our Explorations in Black Leadership
project must be shared in order to fulfill the project¹s goals,²
said Phyllis Leffler, director of U.Va.¹s Institute for Public History.
³I'm very happy to share them locally with a group of extremely
dedicated people who
want to make a difference at the grassroots level. This represents
a wonderful coming together of gown and town for the enrichment
of both. I'm very proud of what we've accomplished together.² City residents interested in developing their leadership
potential from the QCC¹s target neighborhoods Ridge Street, Starr
Hill, Venable, Fifeville, Prospect Avenue, Jackson-Via, Michie Drive
and Riverside Avenue -- were invited to participate. The participants are: Beatrice Bradford, Kathy Brown,
Mary Carey, Karen Chambers, Margaret Crawford, Joy Johnson, Taunya
McDonald, Joel McDonald, Audrey Oliver and Cheryl Williams. The QCC is a community-based organization whose mission
is to strengthen civic participation by residents of targeted, inner-city
neighborhoods. Currently a city agency, the council is applying
for 501 C (3) status as a tax-exempt, charitable organization, which
it expects to receive by the end of the year. The Institute for Public History at the University
of Virginia, founded in 1996, promotes multi-disciplinary studies
of historical and cultural significance, presents the results of
these studies to the general public, and introduces students to
career opportunities in research and interpretation. The institute¹s
long-term goal is to develop a wide variety of interdisciplinary
programs that have broad community appeal and foster understanding
of the human experience. ³We are pleased to have had the opportunity to polish
the skills of some of our grassroots leaders, while bringing in
a new group of talented people,² Waters said. ³We are encouraging
them to pursue other leadership opportunities and hope to see them
out in the community, using their new skills, very soon.²
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FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Contact the Office
of University Relations at (434) 924-7116. Television reporters
should contact the TV News Office at (434) 924-7550. |
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Top News site edited by Dan
Heuchert (dnh6n@virginia.edu); maintained by
Karen Asher
(kac@virginia.edu); releases posted by Sally
Barbour (sab4w@virginia.edu). |
