Civic Projects

Learning about and living the collaborative leadership model

On October 3, 2012 the Emerging Leaders Program presented the findings from the 2012 team projects.  The 31 fellows in the 2012 cohort worked with various organizations including the Mass Business Roundtable (MBR), Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), Boston Tenant Coalition (BTC) and the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), the Center for Social Policy, the Trotter Institute, and the Center for Collaborative Leadership. Two projects addressed improving health outcomes, drawing lessons from corporate wellness plans as well as expanding awareness of care options for homeless people. Two projects addressed the importance of healthy places to live, including affordable housing, and economic districts enlivened by the arts. One team explored broader funding sources to support innovative research on poverty. And one team worked with the Center for Collaborative Leadership to support our own ability to advance the wisdom of collaborative leadership, the vision of a thriving region, and the continuous engagement of a new generation of leaders.

Supporting Healthy Lives and Vibrant Places was hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Representatives from each team presented findings. They are: Kara Boniface, MassBio; Jenna Dodd, Boston Globe; Kelly Dougherty, Tufts Medical Center; Ryan Dunlevy, Rapid7; Charles Smith, Eastern Bank; and Mila Thigpen, Celebrity Series. A panel including John Auerbach, Commissioner, Department of Public Health; Aaron Gornstein, Undersecretary, Department of Housing and Community Development; Donna Latson Gittens, Founder & CEO MORE Advertising; and Jacqueline P. Palladino, Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston responded to the findings. Each of the panelists agreed that there is a need for emerging leaders to be civically engaged, and they were impressed by the scope of the projects and the work the teams had done on behalf of their clients.

Linda Kowalcky, Deputy Director for Institutional Sector Management of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, gave closing remarks on behalf of the Mayor’s office. In her statement, she noted several value propositions of the Emerging Leaders Program that are critically needed in today’s organizations. They include: fostering leadership development; building networks across sectors; and leadership that reflects the diversity of the city of Boston.

Read the Executive Summary | Download the Power Point Presentation

Making a Difference on Pressing Economic and Social Issues

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Creating a stable and healthy economy is vital for the people who live in the Boston region, the organizations that employ them, and the investors who look to our region for innovation. Current social and economic challenges include ensuring affordable and equitably accessible housing for the people who do the essential work of the local economy, supporting low wage workers so that their work sustains both their families and their organizations in a steady and ongoing way, and providing healthy activity for children to curb the obesity epidemic.

Seven teams from the 2011 cohort of Emerging Leaders engaged these issues, starting with a collaborative process of learning about the issues from community stakeholders and non-profit leaders, and then crafting projects that made a difference in important and concrete ways.

On October 4, 2011, ELP Fellows: Andrew Russell, Museum of Fine Arts; Tim Sullivan, Massachusetts AFL-CIO; Tom Yeulenski, Tufts Health Plan; Raul Porras, EMC; Jennifer Thibadeau, Raytheon; Michael McCarthy, The Boston Globe and Carl Guerin, The Boston Company Asset Management presented the findings of their respective ELP teams to a number of community and business stakeholders.

After the presentation, Howard Leibowitz, Chief of Projects and Partnerships for the City of Boston spent a few minutes addressing the team’s findings. Overall, he was impressed with their efforts and urged them to “keep doing what you’re doing.”

A panel of stakeholders also addressed the findings – they included: Deb Felton of Milton Fuller Housing Corporation, Christine Green of the Trefler Foundation and Fred Ramos of State Street Corporation. The panel was moderated by ELP Team Project Facilitator, and UMass Boston Associate Professor in the College of Management, Maureen Scully. Felton’s remarks focused the strength of having emerging leaders engaged in making a difference in their communities.  She also talked to the inter-generational dialogues that have been enabled by this work – bringing all voices to the table to understand and address issues. Green stressed the catalytic impact of the team projects stating that they create potential for positive change. Ramos noted the reality that many civic projects need funding, and the funding comes from the for-profit world. He stressed that collaborative leaders engaging in a civic project need to demonstrate the impact in order to gain the financial support.

The session concluded with additional dialogue around the impact of the team projects, the importance of cross-collaboration between the sectors and how the UMass Boston Emerging Leaders Program facilitates that process.

For more information about the projects, please download the Executive Summary. The event was sponsored by State Street Corporation. 

Creating a Stable and Healthy Economy: Fresh Views from Emerging Leaders

On October 20, 2010, seven Emerging Leaders Program fellows presented, Creating a Stable and Healthy Economy: Fresh Views from Emerging Leaders. The presentation was a result of the work of forty-four Fellows in the 2010 Emerging Leaders Program in collaboration with the Center for Social Policy at UMass Boston on their “reshaping poverty policy” initiative.  The Fellows used their professional skills to analyze data and create awareness campaigns, in turn getting a deeper view of how their civic engagement can make a difference in addressing social issues that affect both businesses and communities. The Fellows examined factors that affect housing and family homelessness, working closely with three organizations, whose participation was made possible by the Hyams Foundation: Boston Tenant Coalition, Greater Boston Fair Housing Center, and Homes for Families.

The fellows looked at:

• Understanding unintended consequences of work support policies for working families: A fresh alternative
• Supporting families with good working conditions in low wage jobs
• Keeping tenants in homes: Effects of foreclosures on families
• Generating support for affordable housing: Creating a marketing and multi-media messaging campaign
• Making all communities welcoming: Race and Place dialogues in Greater Boston today

Judith Kurland, Chief of Partnerships and Programs, Mayor’s Office, City of Boston offered responses and reflections on the projects. She stated that we need to concentrate on how to move the ideas presented by our Fellows forward. Panelists from the Boston Tenant Coalition, Greater Boston Fair Housing Center, Homes for Families, and Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development offered remarks as well.

Our ELP presenters were: David Leonard, Boston Public Library; Daylana Ervin-Parker, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Paul Rabiner, Genzyme; Maija Pratt Rojas, State Street Corporation; Beth Harubin, Tufts Medical Center; and Joel Connor, Community Academy of Science & Health. 

Connecting Boston to the World

Are you a connector? If you’re an active agent, a booster for metropolitan Boston, you may be a connector.  Connectors’ enthusiasm helps to promote the city’s economic assets to the international business community and stimulate interest in the competitive advantages this region offers.  Making connections and energizing young professionals is the goal of a new non-profit organization, Boston World Partnerships by use of its innovative website. As part of a nine month effort by the Emerging Leaders Program Fellows in the 2009 cohort, eight Fellows presented their ideas for enhancing the website to Mayor Menino and other stakeholders on September 30th. They included Nora Blake, Sodexo; Carolyn Eggert, Children’s Trust Fund; Susie Ikeda, Genzyme; Monica Kachru, NStar; Jason MacFadyen, Visiting Nurses; Mark Michaud, MCCA; Stephen Naso, Sovereign Bank; and Douglas New, Putnam. The Fellows offered website strategies to raise global awareness of the competitive advantages that Boston offers to growing businesses. BWP’s overarching goal is to strengthen Greater Boston’s economy, expanding the range of opportunities available to all. After research and analysis, our teams of Fellows were able to suggest to the Mayor some ways to make the site even more effective.  BWP has definite potential to help engage young professionals in Greater Boston and enhance our position in the global arena. Read the Executive Report: Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects in Collaboration with Boston World Partnerships