Projects

Participants in the Leadership Evanston Signature Program engage in small group projects, which benefit Evanston while building leadership skills, experience in group process and in-depth community knowledge.  Working together in and out of class, project teams focus on a major issue facing Evanston, define and analyze it and develop and execute a solution.

The project is intended to give Leadership Evanston participants the opportunity to:

• Design a project resulting in a tangible end product, presented at the end of the program year.
• Practice and apply leadership skills in a group setting (e.g., facilitation, collaboration, consensus building, coming to shared vision, etc.)

Final products can be in a variety of formats:

• Conference, seminar or workshop
• Report to an organization, agency or the community analyzing an issue.
• Proposed piece of legislation
• Proposed change in school board or city policy
• Presentation to an organization, agency or government body proposing change or new program
• Grant proposal for new program or organization

Local organizations that have projects they would like help with are encouraged to submit ideas to Marybeth Schroeder, Senior Program Officer.

Project Examples
Since the project piece was added to the Leadership Evanston curriculum in 2000, participants have engaged in a wide variety of project experiences.

Examples include:

• Home Ownership:  The housing team developed resource sheets with th Evanston Community Development Corporation for constituents who are transitioning to home ownership.
  
  
• Tutor Talk:  The education project team from the 2001-2002 class surveyed the wide variety of Evanston tutoring and mentoring programs about their recruiting, training, and other practices and needs. They gathered representatives of those programs to present results, leading to an ongoing discussion group of tutoring organizations.
  
  
• Community Land Trust:  The housing project team of the 2003-2004 class worked with the Lighthouse Community Land Trust organization to help them develop a communications plan, including a PowerPoint presentation and a brochure.
  
  
• Civic Engagement:  During 2002-2003, the civic engagement team created a template for a brochure to encourage volunteer involvement in Evanston.
  
  
• Celebrating Diversity Book:  The race relations team of the 2003-2004 class wrote a book for preschoolers and is seeking a publisher.  Proceeds will benefit a local childcare center.
  
  
• West End Market:  The economic development team of the 2007-2008 class established a Saturday farmers' market at Church and Dodge.  http://www.westendmarket.org