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From the E.D.
New York City is built on strong and effective leaders, and for more than 25 years, the Coro New York Leadership Center has been developing the leadership community of the city. To ensure that we are prepared to continue to be a vital civic institution for the next 25 years, we have been creating a new strategic plan.
We started our exercise by developing a Theory of Change: a statement that reflects the change we want to see in the world as a result of our programs. Our Theory of Change is a powerful roadmap that will inform many important decisions about our current and future programs. I am pleased to now share this document with you, which is found HERE on our website.
Our Theory of Change represents a significant accomplishment in the history of this organization by accomplishing three important things:
- We have set forth expectations for what all Coro New York programs need to accomplish.
- We are explicitly acknowledging that we can only achieve our results through the work of our alumni. By putting our alumni at the center of our mission, we hope to explore new ways to engage, support, and connect the Coro alumni community
- Finally, we have defined a vision for what we believe our work will contribute to society. Through the effective civic participation of our diverse, informed, and engaged alumni, Coro New York will be contributing to the creation of a more equitable, just and engaged society.
Please read more about Coro's Theory of Change HERE and share your feedback with me at smillstein@coronewyork.org.
Scott E. Millstein, Executive Director
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Alumni Survey
Our new Theory of Change says that Coro is more than an organization that trains individuals--that is just the beginning of our impact. We want to also build a leadership community so this city and society as a whole will benefit.
Please take 5 minutes to complete a survey that will help us better support your civic leadership goals and more meaningfully connect you to the Coro community.
Click HERE to begin the survey.
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Alumni in the News
Fellows Alumni Lend Support for Sotomayor
Lee Llambelis, a 1985 Fellow in San Francisco, is the Director of Intergovernmental and Community Affairs at the Office of the New York State Attorney General. She is also a close personal friend and active supporter of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, current nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Lee hopes to raise awareness about Judge Sotomayor's experience, credentials and qualifications, and to motivate people from all walks of life to learn more about the nomination process and the importance of civic engagement. Alongside Latino celebrities and producers, Lee led the creation of a bilingual online public service campaign in support of this historic nomination.
"I am working with a group of individuals who are supportive of her [Sotomayor] confirmation, including national groups like Hispanics for a Fair Judiciary, The Leadership Conference for Civil Rights, The Alliance for Justice and the larger civil rights community," says Lee. "Our collective goal is to focus attention on Judge Sotomayor's 17-plus-year record on the bench, including over 3,600 cases and 500 opinions that reveal she is a judge who respects precedent and exhibits judicial modesty. "
Lee is not the only Fellow who has been involved in supporting Judge Sotomayor. Elizabeth De Leon, a 2004 Fellow in New York and 2001 Sotomayor law clerk, has also assisted in educating people the Latino community on the importance of being well informed.
As an alumna of Coro's Fellows Program in Public Affairs, Lee recognized that "Coro participants and alums have unique access and exposure to a network of civic leaders and opinion makers,"and now with this campaign hopes to encourage "everyone to become actively engaged in the civic life of the communities where they live and work."
Photo includes Ted Shaw, his sister, Elizabeth De Leon, Lee Llambelis and Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Ted Shaw is a professor of Constitutional Law at Columbia University. He recently gave testimony in support of Sotomayor's nomination.
 LNY Alum Shares "Recipe for Growth"
In June 2008, Coro alumnus Mark Foggin (LNY XVII) authored a policy brief titled "Recipe for Growth" that urged city economic development officials to create additional kitchen incubators. The piece, published by the Center for an Urban Future showed that kitchen incubators give food entrepreneurs something that's often impossible to find in New York: a licensed commercial kitchen at affordable rates.
City officials have now embraced our recommendation. Just this week, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and the New York City Council announced a plan to build a kitchen incubator in East Harlem that will help aspiring entrepreneurs launch bakeries, catering firms and other food manufacturing businesses. "I am pleased to see the city support a program--like the kitchen incubator at La Marqueta--that creates the right environment for small business entrepreneurs," says Mark. "They are unsung heros of New York's neighborhoods and its economy."
ICLP Participant Profiles
Coro New York Leadership Center recently launched its 5th year of our Immigrant Civic Leadership Program, which builds the capacity of diverse leaders working to strengthen immigrant communities. Through the program, participants learn strategies for shaping public policies that affect New York City as a whole and immigrant communities in particular. Jean-Pierre Kamwa and Daysi Mejia are two of this year's participants
Jean-Pierre Kamwa
After being imprisoned for his political activities as a student activist in his native Cameroon, Kamwa escaped to the U.S. in 2001, only to spend five months in a detention facility in Queens. Once granted political asylum, Kamwa moved into a homeless shelter. Today, Kamwa is the founder of "Espoir, Inc.," (French for Hope) an organization that connects asylum applicants detained at immigration facilities in New York and New Jersey and medical and legal practitioners who can assist in securing their freedom and well being. Kamwa hopes to develop Espoir into an "Immigrant Community Center" to welcome and orient newly arrived immigrants, provide free access to computers, telephones, fax machines, printers, daily newspapers, ESL classes, college education information, counseling, and job readiness programs among other services.
When asked why he joined ICLP, Kamwa said: "ICLP challenges participants to examine their individual approaches to leadership in order to build and sustain their organizational and personal visions for change. The networking possibility at the ICLP Program are comparable to none; I will have the opportunity to network and meet with leaders and key players working on immigrant issues."
Daysi Mejia
In December 2007, Daysi was appointed Attorney in Charge of the Immigrant Affairs Program at the New York County District Attorney's Office. The Program was created to investigate and prosecute frauds committed against immigrants, and to encourage all immigrants, documented and undocumented, to report crime to law enforcement. Daysi applied to ICLP in hopes of learning more about the issues facing immigrant communities and the various organizations, agencies and leaders serve those communities. She also wanted to learn about the city generally, and further develop herself as a person and leader.
"Thus far," says Daysi, "Coro has given me a lot more than what I was expecting--particularly in the area of personal development and leadership style. Sharing experiences with other leaders is energizing me to do more and be creative."
Events
 New York Alumni – Central Park SummerStage - Jazmine Sullivan, Chrisette Michele, and Jon B.
Enjoy hassle-free reserved seating with your Coro friends at this great SummerStage concert!
DATE: Sunday, August 9, 2009
TIME: 3:00pm to 7:00pm
LOCATION: Central Park, Rumsey Playfield
COST: Free
RSVP: Space is limited and RSVP is required. Email jgibson@coronewyork.org. For questions, call 212-248-2935 x.318.
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