We believe that the vitality of a community and the development of its leaders are closely linked. And we have seen that as leaders build self-awareness, they begin to realize the connections between their personal stories, their actions, and the creation of a robust community.

By creating an inclusive space for Greater New Haven’s community leaders to explore their leadership practice, we support them in:

• Manifesting the values that are most important to them,
• Better linking their work to the resources in their community, and
• Working effectively and joyfully with others to create the community they desire.

In CLP, we seek to ensure an environment where participants can listen, reflect, learn, contribute and create—individually and collaboratively.

He spent a year listening to the responses and saw a pattern emerge. He heard people talking about their being, rather than their doing: They longed to be a part of something larger than their own work, to build meaningful relationships and collaborations that would create greater change. They wanted to renegotiate the connection between their hearts and heads; between their sense of self and the role they played in their jobs. And they wanted to connect with others in purpose. They recognized that working alone, they could not create the future they wanted for the community.

Since 2002, our approach and practice have evolved, reflecting what our Leaders have learned from each cohort and our belief in focusing on the here and now. CLP’s generative learning environment has benefitted our process as much as it has the participants. We have become more than a leadership development program. We are an inclusive community of practice whose learning model is adaptive and transformative.