History of Leadership Academy

Vision

leadership & power building

After an extensive listening process in 2023-2024 with more than 300 residents, Virginia Community Voice began developing relationships with Southside neighbors to recruit them to design the academy. Collaborating Richmond’s Southside neighbors (primarily formerly redlined neighborhoods), the design team created a bicultural program to prepare Southside neighbors to lead change in their community.

The Leadership Academy has robust curriculum tailored to equip participants with diverse skills and knowledge. The academy recruits from local residents and existing RVA Thrives members, focusing on creating a bilingual program to accommodate our diverse community. We anticipate enrolling 12-15 adult participants in each cohort. The curriculum is designed to include six workshops covering a range of critical topics, including leadership skills, technology support, and preparatory training for active involvement in working groups and steering committees.

Why this matters

The new South Richmond Leadership Academy honors the expertise of directly impacted people. It supports Black and Latine/x neighbors to reclaim the power they have been told for too long they don’t have and offers a space where they can exercise that power and develop leadership skills. What makes the academy unique is it’s design. The fellowship is being co-created with the participants themselves.

Since fall 2022, we have been listening to the community to understand what is wanted from a leadership program. Here’s what we have heard so far.