Community Learning Partnership

Student Stories

‘Preparing to Win’ Provides Blueprint for Creating Pathways to Community Change Careers

A new book, “Preparing to Win: Developing Community Leaders, Organizers and Allies,” by Andy Mott, provides a roadmap for creating educational pathways into careers and leadership positions tackling many of the most challenging issues facing America today. “ “At this… Read More

A ‘Year of Wins’ for Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action

Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action is a group of young people organizing to combat climate change in their local communities through aggressive public policy initiatives.The group, co-founded by Cynthia Kaufman — who coordinates the Community Learning Partnership program at Vasconcellos … Read More

Dawn Wilson-Clark on Making Kids Smile — As a Clown and Community Leader

Dawn Wilson-Clark, who is 47 years old, was clowning around one day (quite literally — she works as a professional clown) in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood when she passed a for sale sign at a house that caught her eye. When… Read More

Felecia Bennett-Clark of Macomb Community College Receives Award for Excellent Teaching

Felecia Bennett-Clark, a professor at Macomb Community College who teaches political science courses in the CLP-affiliated Certificate in Community Leadership program, received the 2019 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Award. The honor is given to recognize… Read More

Nyeelah Rousseau, On Leveraging Privilege for Change

Nyeelah Rousseau, a senior at West Chester University, is the first to recognize her own privilege. “I attended a private high school,” she said. “And grew up with both parents in my house, and always had someone there for me.”… Read More

How Leadership Students at Macomb College Are Channeling Their Histories Into Action

The Community Leadership Certificate at Macomb Community College in Detroit is often used to enhance any number of degrees at the college, including those in the public service and business management sectors. But many social work students, in particular, have… Read More

Staci Lowry, On Developing a Community Change Network

Staci Lowry, a 35-year-old mother of three based in Detroit, Michigan, experienced an incredible scare in 2014, when her youngest child suffered a stroke. Her daughter is fortunately fine today. “She’s the most rambunctious of my three children, so she’s… Read More

Ben Vo, on Learning Critical Consciousness and Activism

Ben Vo, a second year student at De Azna College who recently earned his Leadership and Social Change certificate, grew up in San Jose, about a 25 minute drive away from campus. It was an interesting place to grow up,… Read More

Nahje Royster: On Finding Her Voice in a Whitewashed World

Nahje Royster, a student at West Chester University, was born and raised in a diverse neighborhood in northern Philadelphia. “There were a lot of different communities within in my neighborhood,” she says, including lots of people from Latinx, Hispanic, and… Read More

The Only Constant in Henry Ford’s “Community Leadership” Program Is Change

The Community Leadership Program at Henry Ford College may already be in its fourth year, but its curriculum is far from set in stone—and Professor Robert Yahrmatter, who leads the program, plans to keep it that way. The core of… Read More

Pathways into Community Change Careers