CivicLab has selected the second cohort for the Systemness Leadership Academy to advance systemness-centered strategies that empower experienced collaborative and systems leaders to approach and address complex social problems. Systemness is defined by CivicLab as a quality where people think of themselves to be part of a larger system and work for the benefit of the system.
Nine participants from three states have been selected from an applicant pool for their ability to affect systems change in the areas of educational attainment, talent retention, population growth, economic development, and quality of life.
Participants include:
- Monica Brockmeyer, Change By Degrees, LLC, Rochester Hills, Mich.
- Veronica Franzese, Community Education Coalition, Columbus, Ind.
- Jeneen Hatoum, Michigan College Access Network (MCAN), Lansing, Mich.
- Laura Herrell, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Nashville, Tenn.
- Stephanie Weiss, Detroit Regional Chamber, Detroit, Mich.
- Mia Lanier-Durkins, Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Scott McCorkle, MetaImpact, Indianapolis, Ind.
- Brian Pearson, Otsego Community Foundation (OCAN), Gaylord, Mich.
- Meghan Schmidbauer, Detroit Drives Degrees (Detroit Regional Chamber), Detroit, Mich.
Each participant has chosen a unique focus area relevant to their own community, region, or state to apply the principles, practices, and frameworks provided by CivicLab.
Systemness is a twelve-month leadership experience for co-creating better social systems designed to serve whole people. Leaders in the academy represent communities that want to use a coherent and holistic approach to addressing complex social problems. The academy teaches systems-building principles, shares concrete examples of the ideas in action, and provides a space to practice the skills. it’s goal is to create a cohort of natio
nal leaders dedicated to transforming social systems to better serve all people.
The vision for the academy to is create more “systemness” across the programs, agencies, and organization that serve communities. Systemness is a quality that exists when people think of themselves as being part of a larger social system and then work together in new ways because they can collectively see and understand a structure that was previously invisible to them.
