The Community Leaders' Academy

Building and sustaining healthier communities requires dedicated, knowledgeable, and committed transformational leaders. The academy offer s an opportunity for public, private, and not-for profit sector leaders and community activists to learn the skills and knowledge vital to successful social, economic, and environmental transformation.

The two-year program offered by the academy consists of eight courses presenting the fundamentals of transformational leadership, as welt as the tools and techniques to build and sustain healthier communities. The eight courses are as follows:

Transforming Leadership Through the Science of Complexity Critically analyzes the sciatica of complexity and emphasizes the role science plays in facilitating the vital work of transformational leadership within communities,

The Transformational Leader - The Mind, Body, Spirit Connection
Explores the power and effectiveness of the mind, body, and spirit connection as it relates to the individual, the community, and the insulation.

Spirituality and Leadership
Reviews the role of Spirituality in the work of transformational leaders in shaping the values and principles of community wholeness, renewal, and strength.

Social Justice, Popular Education, and Participatory Democracy
Explores ways to expand and revitalize traditional democratic institutions and/or create new ones to increase the level and Substance of community participation.

Transforming the Institution and Systems
Evaluates the theories and strategies of planned change and innovation as a basis for managing the transformation of organizations and institutional systems.

Transforming Communities from the Inside Out
Analyzes the process enabling community leaders to redistribute local power and resources toward improving the health add quality of community life.

Relationship-Centered Decision Making and Discourse
Analyzes service and relationships against technology and hierarchical systems as paths to excellence in transformational leadership.

Demonstrating Public Value and Social Accountability
Defines value-based criteria, develops methodologies to review and verify compliance with accepted ethical standards, and documents the value and measures outcomes of community programs and services,

Each course module is introduced in the leadership conferences by a respected expert providing the framework upon which the course is designed. Courses are 16 hours in length and, to facilitate participation, are offered on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.

All participants who complete the two-year program will receive a certificate in transformational leadership from the Immaculate Heart College Center.

In affiliation with the University of La Verne, the academy's two-year program provides the qualified participant with six semester hours of graduate-level credit. The University of La Verne is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Credits earned may be applied to a master's degree at the University of La Verne, or may be transferred to another university.