Tuesday, August 6 | 2:00 - 3:00 PM Workshops

Charting A Path Forward For Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion After SFFA • Nicole Benjamin | Adler Pollock & Sheehan
Session Room: Bristol

On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, holding that the admissions programs instituted by Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, respectively.

The Supreme Court did not hold that diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are unlawful. Rather, the Supreme Court's decision challenges us to analyze diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to ensure they do not employ preferences based on race alone and are not premised on racial stereotyping, as the Court determined was the case with Harvard and UNC's admissions programs. If they do, it is incumbent on us to rethink how those programs can be designed to achieve what the Court recognized was otherwise a commendable goal- diversity, equity, and inclusion.

This program will help participants chart a path forward for diversity, equity, and inclusion work without running afoul of the law.

About the Speakers: Nicole Benjamin is a litigator who has been recognized for her successes in complex commercial litigation and appellate advocacy. She is the immediate Past-President of the Rhode Island Bar Association. Nicole is a 2013 graduate of Leadership Rhode Island and, thereafter, served for nine years on Leadership Rhode Island’s Board of Governors, the last three of which were as Board Chair.  Nicole has tried high-stakes litigation and regularly represents public and private companies in complex federal and state court cases. She has handled multi-district litigation and class actions and has defended clients against antitrust, breach of contract, business tort, employment, intellectual property, product liability (including in aviation and drug and medical device cases), public nuisance, and toxic tort claims.

Working out of the firm’s Providence office, Nicole has also represented Rhode Island general officers, state department agencies, and municipalities in matters of significant public importance, including constitutional challenges. In addition to her trial court practice, Nicole has successfully briefed and argued cases in the First and Third Circuits and the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

As Community Leadership Programs, we are often asked about the long-term impact of our programs in the community, but that can be a difficult question to answer. How do we collect data that best tells the story of our alumni and the difference they make in the community after they graduate? What's different for our alumni because of their program experience? How do we share that information with stakeholders, funders, and the community to elevate our impact? Cleveland Leadership Center has developed and implemented an alumni community survey that aims to answer those questions. This workshop will review the foundation of the survey, methods used for collecting data, the most recent results from the Fall 2022 survey, and share how the data has been used. Attendees will take away concrete tools on how to apply them to their own programs and have a better understanding of how to use evaluation techniques to tell their impact story.

About the Speaker: Rachel Ciomcia is the Executive Vice President of Cleveland Leadership Center. In her role, she provides oversight for all evaluation and community impact work of CLC, the development of custom programs and strategic opportunities, and the design and implementation of all CLC programs. She is a certified TetraMap® Facilitator, Strategic Doing™ Certified Workshop Leader, IDI® Qualified Administrator, and has presented nationally on evaluation, impact, and engagement. Rachel graduated from Ohio University in 2002 with a BA in Psychology and continued her education at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, graduating in 2005 with a Master of Science in Social Administration. Rachel has worked as a social worker at MetroHealth Medical Center and as a Program Coordinator at Care Alliance Health Center. Through her work at Care Alliance, she designed, implemented, and measured a federally funded evaluation program and collaborated with nine other programs across the country. She has a special interest in social work issues with the HIV/AIDS community and healthcare. 

Rachel is a graduate of the Cleveland Bridge Builders Class of 2010 and is a member of the Cleveland Leadership Center Alumni Association. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Motogo, and a Program Committee member with Courage to Caregivers. She has served on the Board of Directors for the MetroHealth Foundation, the associate board of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, most recently as Chair, and on the Outcomes Committee with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. She was named a Top 25 under 35 Mover and Shaker in 2013 by the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club.

The Case for Strengths • Marcus Jannitto | Centerline Consulting
Session Room: Providence II & III

Every great coach figures out each player's strengths and puts them into a role on the team where they can leverage their natural abilities and talents. Great leaders do the same. How can you discover and leverage the strengths of your volunteers, staff, and your own? How do you keep your volunteers engaged? Many leadership organizations use personality/leadership style assessments in their programs, but when someone says, "This assessment changed my life!" we sit up and take notice. In this workshop, we will look at the case for using the Clifton Strengths assessment and the philosophy of looking at those around us in light of their natural gifts. Here in Rhode Island, we have literally changed the culture of our state through the "Make RI Stronger" initiative, using a strengths-based approach to reduce the number of actively disengaged employees state-wide, saving the RI economy hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue and becoming, in Gallup's words, "the first strengths-based state."
 
Come and find out more about strengths-based leadership and how to use it to get the most out of your program, staff, and volunteers.

About the Speaker: Marcus Jannitto, USAF Brigadier General (ret.) is passionate about making people think differently about leadership. He is a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach for Leadership Rhode Island, presenting Strengths training to over 45 businesses, schools, universities and non-profit agencies in RI and southeastern New England in order to increase their leadership capacity as a strengths-based organization. He has facilitated efforts in culture change and strategic planning in many organizations, including the United Way of Rhode Island, and for the air show industry as vice-chair of the International Council of Airshows Board of Directors. Before retiring after a 38-year AF career, he served as the Director of the Air National Guard Commanders Development Course, a 9-day leadership course for new Group and Wing commanders taught 3 times per year at the Pentagon and Andrews AFB. Brig Gen Jannitto has accumulated 5200 flying hours and more than 50 combat missions in the C-130 aircraft and is a veteran of numerous deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Central America, and Bosnia, as well as deploying to Ground Zero during 9/11.

He served on two national-level councils: the Air National Guard Strategic Planning System Steering Committee, which provides strategic guidance to the Director of the Air National Guard, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau’s Joint Diversity Executive Council. He is a graduate of the Air War College and the Combat Aircrew Training (CATS) Instructor School at Nellis AFB. He conducts leadership workshops nationwide for the Air Force, Army, and National Park Service and works with college athletic teams throughout the East Coast on peer leadership, team culture, and captain development. He spent 10 years as an athletic administrator, NCAA coach, and adjunct faculty member at both Roger Williams University and Salve Regina University. He currently coaches boys volleyball at La Salle Academy in Providence and was recently named Boys Volleyball Coach of the Year by the RI Interscholastic League. For fun, he plays throughout the East Coast in a Chicago tribute band (Chicago Total Access) and flies paramotors. Jannitto is a 1997 graduate of LRI.

Best Practices Panel • Panelists | Various Leadership Programs
Session Room: South County

This is a very interactive session, explicitly tailored to the needs/questions of those present. All panelists are highly experienced Community Leadership Program professionals. For this session, the panelists will focus on questions related to the application process, recruitment, and selection of candidates for programs. Come with your questions, and be prepared for a lively conversation!

Panelists:
Mark Hollander | Vision St. Charles County Leadership, MO
Dawn Kraus | Leadership Seminole, FL
Lisa Winkelbauer | Leadership Orlando, FL

Moderated by Griff Hall, Griff Strategic Leadership. Before founding GSL, Griff held three top executive positions and has been a senior practitioner faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business for more than 15 years. These experiences, together with an entrepreneurial spirit, led Griff to form GSL in 2007 with the aim of combining practical application, relevant research, and exemplary practices to help leaders in small to mid-size organizations identify and accelerate value through growth. Griff was the founding Board Chair of the Association for Leadership Programs and has held numerous other Board positions. He continues to teach at Carey part-time, specializing in strategy, leadership, and ethics while leading GSL.

Addressing The 'Place' In Workplace • Rebecca Twitchell | Half Full Consulting
Session Room: Kent

For the leader and anyone else who is curious about talking about workplace culture! In this highly interactive, thought-provoking, productive (and validating!) session, half full, llc Founder and President Rebecca Twitchell will take leaders through workshops where they will discuss, create and design ways to integrate strategies throughout their organizations and programs to decrease burnout, develop effective recruitment strategies and create/maintain a healthy workplace culture (while ultimately addressing retention challenges).

About the Speaker: Passionate about helping teams and individuals move forward, Rebecca Twitchell aspires to live each day as optimistically and realistically as possible. Her story is the backbone behind why half full, llc exists. Go ahead and shake her hand and ask for the left one.A graduate of the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University, Twitchell founded half full, llc in 2004 – a unique do well, do good business which provides team building, workplace culture and strategic planning services to teams and individuals looking to move forward with intention.

Twitchell attributes half full, llc’s most recent accomplishments to the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, her participation in Leadership Rhode Island’s PI II Class, and receiving the SBA Microenterprise of the Year Award in RI/Northeast and her team’s dedication to the vision, mission, and values of half full, llc as well as her own very personal commitment to always be listening and learning.

Ask the Sponsors: Building Effective Partnerships • Panel | Marisa Albanese, Manager, External Affairs, Rhode Island Energy
Carmen Diaz-Jusino, Strategic Initiative Officer, Rhode Island Foundation, and Cortney Nicolato, President and CEO, United Way of Rhode Island - Facilitator: Kristin Zosa Puleo, Leadership Rhode Island
Session Room: Newport/Washington

Learn from the decision makers: Hear from a panel of corporate sponsorship decision makers who will share their perspectives on what they look for when reviewing corporate sponsorship and partnership requests, and how community leadership programs might align with their corporate social responsibility strategies and goals. Ask Your Questions: Have the chance to ask specific questions about how to effectively engage with funders, build strong relationships, and secure support for your initiatives. Discover Best Practices: Learn from the perspectives of the funders what might be best practices for proposal writing, communication, and reporting to enhance your chances of securing funding.

Whether you are new to fundraising or looking to deepen your existing relationships with funders, this workshop will equip you with valuable knowledge and strategies to enhance your funding efforts. Don't miss this opportunity to learn directly from the people who can support your impactful work in the community.

Panelists: 
Marisa Albanese, Manager, External Affairs, Rhode Island Energy
Carmen Diaz-Jusino, Strategic Initiative Officer, Rhode Island Foundation
Cortney Nicolato, President and CEO, United Way of Rhode Island

Facilitated by Kristin Zosa Puleo. Kristin is a native Rhode Islander with an unabashed love for her tiny home state. She has a BA in Art History from Stonehill College and an MA from the University of Connecticut, a strong background in hospitality, non-profit event management, and program development, and thrives in settings where she has the opportunity to help others grow. Kristin joined the LRI team in 2017 as the Programs Manager, overseeing the Core and College Programs. In 2021, she was promoted to Director of Development & Alumni Engagement, where she oversees and implements the organization’s fundraising strategy.