Meet Class 21

(from Neighborhood Leader, Spring 2005 issue)

Class 21 panel discussion Meet Class 21.

They are men and women, city residents and suburbanites, East Siders and West Siders. They come from 9 different municipalities and from 14 different Cleveland neighborhoods.

They are corporate employees and social workers. They are unemployed. They are poets, ministers, and entrepreneurs. They are ex-offenders. They are high school dropouts and law school graduates. They range in age from 26 to 71.

The twenty-first class of Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland continues the tradition of diversity that has been the program's hallmark since its inception in 1994. No other leadership program in Greater Cleveland brings together such a wide range of people.

Despite their differences, the class members share several important characteristics, including a passionate commitment to their communities and a demonstrated willingness to take on responsibility.

Markietta Stevenson (NLC Class 11), who chairs the program's Recruitment and Screening Committee, points out, "Being a leader doesn't necessarily mean you have to be the head of something. You have to be a doer—to be able to get things done."

You also have to be open-minded, Stevenson emphasizes: "If you go in with a closed mind or are not open to other people's ideas, you won't learn."

No one understands that lesson better than previous NLC graduates. That's why they conduct the interviews of applicants. As Stevenson puts it, "It's very hard to articulate the bonding that you experience in your class. If you haven't experienced that, you just don't get it.”

That's just the kind of experience that Class 21 member Gina Washington is seeking. Says Washington, a resident of Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood, "I love the fact that Cleveland is loaded with so much history and untapped energy. We are in a perfect position to be greater than we are if we learn from our mistakes and inspire people to use their talents here in Cleveland."

For the twenty-first time since 1994, Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland is tapping that energy for the good of Greater Cleveland's neighborhoods. When Class 21 graduates on April 28, they will join the previous NLC graduates in a growing network of grassroots leaders who are working to improve the quality of life in their communities.