Ivis Garcia, University of Utah
The Westside Leadership Institute (WLI) was developed by University Neighborhood Partners (UNP), Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, and NeighborWorks to promote leadership opportunities to residents living in the west side of Salt Lake City, Utah. Working in close partnership, these three institutions, brought together their resources to address one pressing socio-political issue: increasing the number of community leaders and their effectiveness. Like many other working-class neighborhoods, the west side has historically experienced marginalization. Thus, the primary goal of the WLI has been to help residents to discover their gifts and capacities so they are empowered to practice self-determination, mobilize their assets, and practice community organizing.
Westside neighborhoods have undergone significant changes over the years. For instance, the Hispanic population has more than doubled in the last 10 years, and now totals more than 40 percent of the area population. Moreover, 80 percent of Salt Lake City’s refugee population resides on the west side. This increasing diversity is both an asset and a challenge. While minority communities on the west side are vibrant and full of life, formalized institutions like schools have a difficult time addressing the language and cultural differences. There’s very little participation by minorities in public decision-making, whether on local community councils, parent-teacher associations, or city government. Further, high school completion and post-secondary education rates are significantly lower than those of east side neighborhoods. All of these conditions became the drive to develop the WLI and a curriculum intended to foster leadership skills among residents of west side neighborhoods.
The WLI offered its first formal course in 2004 with a leadership program created by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change. UNP usually “buys out” a faculty member at the University of Utah (or the “U”) to teach the course. In other words, UNP pays $4,500 to the faculty’s home department. Students pay an administrative fee of $40 to the U’s continuing education program. UNP offers scholarships to students with financial needs. Students do not receive a grade but they receive credit for the class, which they can later transfer into another school or use towards the completion of their degree. The class meets for three hours a week for an entire semester, just like a regular class at the University of Utah. The English version is offered in the Fall semester and the Spanish version in the Spring. The classes follow a curriculum rich in theory and practice; including asset-based training and the creation of an association that then implements a community project or initiative. NeighborWorks pays for additional expenses related to the class such as food, a graduation at the end of the course, and small grants (about $2,000) towards the implementation of a community project.
The WLI’s philosophy operates from an understanding that an “assets” and a “wealth of capacities” exist in every neighborhood. In other words, each individual possesses unique skills and abilities that can benefit their community. Thus, the goal of WLI is to produce catalysts for positive community change and leadership. More than training participants to work to improve their communities, WLI aims to train participants to promote broadened community leadership by sharing what they have learned with their family, friends, and co-workers. WLI trains residents to look for the community networks, sources of strength, and assets that are all around them, and to tap into these resources to create positive change.
Change is triggered by teaching participants effective ways to engage in their community: how to identify a community’s assets, how to manage conflicts, how to establish media relations, how to conduct project planning, how to run a successful meeting, and how to analyze a project’s outcomes. Residents are taught to frame and understand a community issue, determine the role of leadership, then develop and employ process management strategies in order to make progress on resolving the community issue. Additionally, resident participants learn to manage meetings, resolve conflict, employ a variety of communication skills, use social media, write grants, and engage with government.
Over 500 residents have graduated from the WLI, and will have received official non-credit transcripts from the University of Utah, as well as certificates of completion. After graduation, the WLI connects these new leaders to local decision-making bodies, funding sources, and further support. Graduates have formed hundreds of associations and many have started non-profits and businesses. WLI graduates have gone on to chair parent-teacher advisory boards, join the boards of organizations like NeighborWorks Salt Lake and UNP, participate in community councils, run to be a Legislative House Representative, elected to serve on the Salt Lake City Council, work as advocates for their communities and much more. Over the years, curriculum and methodologies of presentation change to fit the particular needs of west side residents, but the concept of a wealth of capacities remains a guiding theme for the Westside Leadership Institute.
Caption: WLI graduates from the Spanish Class. Author in red gown.