Applications are being accepted for a new leadership initiative to tackle the community challenge of early childhood education.
The Civics Solutions Lab, a pilot effort with seed funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is modeled after a similar program offered by Leadership Louisville Center. Application is open to Leadership Akron graduates as well as leaders in the broader community looking to make a difference.
In 2015, Leadership Akron was awarded a $100,000 grant to gather leaders from different sectors to tackle some of Akron’s most pressing needs.
“The Civic Solutions Lab will help to engage leadership talent across generations, while encouraging leaders to take hold of the future of the city,” said Kyle Kutuchief, Knight Foundation program director for Akron.
Mark Scheffler, president of Leadership Akron, said the lab “reflects our strategic priority of becoming more proactive in connecting the leaders we serve to community needs.”
The inaugural class of up to 20 participants will get the chance to research early childhood education locally and nationally; identify possible strategies and evaluate their viability in the Akron area; and develop recommendations to work with local partners.
A design team of civic leaders identified early childhood education because of several factors:
• One in three children in Summit County are not on track for success when they begin kindergarten.
• Nearly 2,000 children in Summit County begin kindergarten every year with no preschool experience.
• Children who start out behind in school often never catch up.
Leaders from across sectors will apply change management models and their own knowledge and skills to explore strategies “with the goal of fostering positive change that will result in more of Summit County’s children becoming kindergarten-ready,” the organization said.
Tuition for the program is $1,500 and applications will be accepted through Nov. 14 at www.leadershipakron.org.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty