Community Memorial Foundation to Partner with Center for Creative Leadership To Strengthen Nonprofit Leadership in Western Suburbs

Community Memorial Foundation (CMF) has partnered with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) to implement a leadership development curriculum in the western suburbs that will help train the next generation of community health leaders. The Ladder to Leadership* program aims to boost the skills and capabilities of emerging leaders working in health and health‐related nonprofit organizations so they will be positioned to assume greater leadership roles in local nonprofit organizations.

 “With an unwavering commitment to improve health, foster collaboration and strengthen organizations, Community Memorial Foundation is excited to launch this bold new program,” stated Greg DiDomenico, President and CEO of Community Memorial Foundation. “Healthy communities need strong organizations. And strong organizations need strong leaders. Ladder to Leadership will help to maximize our grantees efforts to promote community change and build healthier communities.” 

Ladder to Leadership is focused on developing critical leadership competencies for 14 mid-career professionals through an innovative, 16-month leadership development curriculum. As Lynn Fick-Cooper, Lead Faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership noted, “Each phase of the program includes a mixture of face to face training sessions, individualized executive coaching and mentoring and team project work—all anchored within the context of the communities in which these leaders live and work to maximize the application and impact of the program concepts.“

To prepare for this program, the Foundation spent 18 months listening to middle managers and executive directors about the need for leadership development.  The Foundation’s investment in Ladder to Leadership program is the response to these conversations.  Applicants participated in a thorough application including face to face interviews which resulted in the selection of the following 14 professionals to participate in the Ladder to Leadership program:

·         Deb Baker, Associate Executive Director, HCS Family Services, Hinsdale

·         Roxanna Franco, Case Manager, Mujeres Latinas en Accion, North Riverside

·         Jennifer Gabrenya, Director of Programs, Family Shelter Services, Wheaton/Downers Grove

·         Kristen Hermes, Director of Events and Marketing, Community Nurse Health Association, LaGrange

·         Dan Janowick, Director of Programs and Facilities, The Community House, Hinsdale

·         Selena LeSure, Associate Director of Human Resources, Aspire of Illinois, Westchester

·         Lourdes Lonergan, Program Director—LARC, DuPage Federation, Villa Park

·         Ellen Masuret, Director of Assisted Living, Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park

·         Amy Matthews, Associate Clinical Director, Way Back Inn, Broadview

·         Necole Mills, Director of CSS Academy, Community Support Services, Brookfield

·         Maria Ochoa, Manager of Business Operations, Access DuPage, Westmont

·         Cathy Pierson, Program Operations Director, The LeaderShop, LaGrange

·         Erica Sokol, Program Director, NAMI DuPage, Wheaton

·         Sarah Wiemeyer, Director of Clinical Services, Helping Hand Center, Countryside

 “Community Memorial Foundation congratulates the 14 professionals selected to participate in the 2013-2014 Ladder to Leadership program.  This new program is rooted in the Foundation’s commitment to building the organizational capacity of its grantees. It responds to the need to cultivate leadership at all organizational levels,” noted Tom Fuechtmann, Foundation Program Officer. 

Founded in 1995, Community Memorial Foundation (CMF) is a private, health-conversion foundation dedicated to measurably improving the health and well-being of those who live and work in 27 communities in the western suburbs of Chicago.  Since its founding, Community Memorial Foundation has focused on building the capacity of its non-profit partners. Through the Building Organizational Effectiveness Initiative, CMF provides non-profit organizations with continuous learning and improvement opportunities. This, in turn, creates great leaders, effective management, and sound governance. In the last 18 years, Community Memorial Foundation has awarded more than $57 million in grants to organizations serving people in the western suburbs. 

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is a top-ranked, global provider of executive education that develops better leaders through its exclusive focus on leadership education and research. Founded in 1970 as a nonprofit, educational institution, CCL helps clients worldwide cultivate creative leadership—the capacity to achieve more than imagined by thinking and acting beyond boundaries—through an array of programs, products and other services. Ranked among the world’s top providers of executive education by BusinessWeek and the Financial Times, CCL is headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., with campuses in Colorado Springs, C.O.; San Diego, C.A.; Brussels, Belgium; and Singapore. Its work is supported by more than 500 faculty members and staff. 

* Ladder to Leadership was originally developed through funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.