2020 has been a year unlike any other. We are battling a global pandemic which has claimed nearly 200,000 American lives. During this time, we are confronted with an economic fallout which is further widening existing economic gaps and magnifying structural and systemic bias and racism within our public institutions. Civic Leadership Academy (CLA) fellows are at the helm of these critical fights.
Within hours of Chicago’s stay-at-home order taking effect in March, CLA fellows were bracing for the numerous health, economic, community, and organizational challenges that would inevitably arise. Many asked how the CLA community could be leveraged to meet the needs of individual fellows and their organizations during this unprecedented time.
In response, CLA launched the COVID-19 Collaboratory Initiative, which invited CLA alumni to present challenges introduced by the pandemic, and crowdsource ideas and best practices from the broader network. After the first session, the demand was so high that CLA hosted one every night for one week. The group continued to meet weekly throughout April and May.
There are few spaces where high-level civic leaders can engage and learn with such an influential community. CLA is the critical linchpin—bridging fellows on the frontline of movements at the intersections of health, racial, economic, environmental, workforce, and criminal justice.
Collaboratory initiatives are not new to the CLA curriculum, however, this was a reactive and timely opportunity to scale up our work to engage the entire CLA alumni network from cohort years 2015-2020. In the midst of many critical fights, our fellows are activating the entire CLA network and their respective organizations in coalition efforts to create broad-scale institutional change.
The six-week initiative engaged over 200 attendees in nearly 20 presentation topics, including:
Coalition fundraising during COVID-19
Financial forecasting during economic uncertainty
Constitutional enforcement of public gathering restrictions
Supporting workers facing furlough days and layoffs
Providing essential direct services while adhering to evolving health guidance
Employee engagement during COVID-19
Rapid response funding and resources
Leveraging existing relationships to address workforce development
Expanding internet access for low income Chicagoans
COVID-19 relief for all Chicagoans, regardless of citizenship status
Leveraging the CLA community during COVID-19
Chicago judicial court updates in an remote environment
Building unity within local, county, state and federal emergency response
UChicago Booth MBA COVID-19 volunteers and resources
Chicago public school remote learning challenges
COVID-19 disproportionate effects on Chicago’s African American community
Supporting essential health care workers in high demand times
The breadth of topics covered exemplifies the deep involvement and interconnectedness of CLA fellows within the fabric of Chicago’s civic infrastructure.
Presenting fellows represented a variety of organizations, including Cook County Government, Rush University Medical Center, Esperanza Health Centers, Skills for Chicagoland’s Future, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, LIFT-Chicago, The Field Foundation, Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security, Cook County Juvenile Probation, Chicago Police Department, Timothy Community Corporation, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago CRED, City of Chicago Alderman’s office, Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender, Cook County State's Attorney's Office, and Chicago Public Schools.
Fellows are thinking critically about supporting and empowering all Chicago residents, while building policies which ultimately have power to create a stronger and more sustainable city.
Sadia Sindhu, Executive Director of the Center for Effective Government, spoke of the goal of the collaboratory sessions, “We needed to ensure our fellows felt supported and were leaning on each other for support during such difficult times, because the reality is that our CLA fellows are the ones making decisions across the city and county.”
Many important ideas, partnerships, and initiatives have emerged from conversations during the CLA COVID-19 Collaboratory Initiative. Fellows have transformed knowledge and best practices from these sessions into broad institutional reform taking place in the city of Chicago.
For example, the creation of the Cook County CARES Act allocation strategy was led by Dean Constantinou (CLA’20) after presenting at a collaboratory session. The equitable allocation model provides relief to Chicago small businesses considering need-based metrics.
We continue to see ripples from the ideas shared and partnerships created during this initiative—a true testament to the power and influence of the CLA network, particularly during challenging times.
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