PITTSBURGH, PA — An Immigrant Leadership Cohort made possible through a partnership between Women and Girls Foundation (WGF), All for All, and Carlow University, will take place over the course of three evening sessions this month at Carlow University. The program aims to provide tools to support emerging, as well as established immigrant community leaders. Participants will receive training in the fundamentals of advocacy, coalition building, and external communications. The cohort is almost filled, but there are limited spots still available. Interested participants should contact Anna at anna@changeagency.world no later than Friday, May 4th.
“At WGF, we work to break down barriers to social equality and justice. It is especially important, at this time, to ensure immigrant leaders have the tools they need to recognize their strengths, amplify their voices, and find new ways to advocate within their organizations and in the community at large,” said Heather Arnet, CEO of the Women and Girls Foundation, and co-teacher of the course.
The leadership workshop, which is free to participants, will encourage attendees to consider what motivates their leadership and dedication to their communities. The goal is to help them better understand themselves and their interactions with others for more effective leadership. Through interactive exercises, participants will learn more about one another and improve working relationships within the group.
“Leaders are often called upon, time and time again, to represent the communities they serve. By having a program that extends the invitation to emerging voices, we hope to inspire new leaders and expand the reach and capacity of our organizations,” says Wasi Mohamed, Executive Director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, who will be attending the workshops.
The curriculum is being developed specifically for All for All and will combine aspects of Women and Girls Foundation’s work around advocacy and coalition building with the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) Curriculum. Janice McCall, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at Carlow University and certified instructor of the SDI Leadership Development curriculum, will be co-teaching the workshops.
“SDI is a collaborative, easy-to-use way of developing a deeper understanding of what drives you to action, and can help in the development of more effective leadership. I’m eager to introduce the tool to the cohort and see how what we learn over the course of the program can help in coalition building and stronger leaders in our immigrant communities,” says McCall.
“Over the years, many of us have spoken of a need for a program that could provide leadership development and advocacy training to emerging leaders in our communities. While there are some excellent professional training programs locally and nationally, these are often cost prohibitive or require too much of a time commitment, especially for those trying to balance work, family and community responsibilities,” says All for All Director, Betty Cruz. “This program aims to be accessible to those who, due to various barriers, don’t have these trainings available to them.”
The first session will be held on May 10th from 5:30-9:30PM at Carlow University in Oakland. Attendees will be provided with dinner and parking is available on-site. Childcare is available upon request. Participants in the program will be finalized by this Friday, May 4th. Interested applicants should reach out to Anna at anna@changeagency.world.