Tuesday, July 14 | 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Workshops
Please note that workshops, their dates and times are subject to be changed.
A Framework for Action: Embedding Youth Leadership in Community Work • Arturo Aceves & Itzel Lopez | Latino Economic Development Council | Leadership Omaha Alumni
What happens when youth leadership development is designed alongside a community's organizational growth and physical transformation?
This workshop explores the creation and launch of Adelante Youth Activators, a youth leadership program developed in tandem with the founding of the Latino Economic Development Council and the revitalization of Plaza de la Raza in South Omaha. Rather than offering a stand-alone leadership cohort, LEDC embedded youth leadership directly into a living community project, positioning high school and first-generation college students as co-creators in place-based revitalization and civic life.
Presenters will share how Adelante Youth Activators was intentionally designed to provide mentorship, leadership training, and real-world application while allowing youth to meaningfully contribute to community outcomes. Participants will gain insight into how leadership development can be grounded in cultural heritage, shared decision-making, and tangible community assets.
Designed for leaders who manage community leadership programs, this session offers practical lessons on building innovative youth engagement models, aligning leadership development with local impact projects, and navigating early organizational capacity constraints. Attendees will leave with frameworks and tools they can adapt to their own communities to strengthen youth leadership, deepen community connection, and advance place-based impact.
About the Speaker: Arturo Aceves With a background in medicine and years of experience in immigrant rights, language access, and nonprofit leadership, Arturo brings both technical expertise and a deep understanding of community needs. In this role, Dr. Aceves leads efforts to improve health outcomes, expand economic opportunity, and remove systemic barriers. His work focuses on cross-sector partnerships, community voice, and strategies that ensure all individuals can thrive regardless of language, status, or background.
About the Speaker: Itzel Lopez is the founder and inaugural CEO of LEDC. As a strategic community leader and collaborator with the ability to forge strong and authentic relationships with philanthropy, industry, nonprofits, government, and other key community stakeholders, Born and raised in Mexico, she was 12 years old when Itzel and her family moved to Omaha. As a long-time community leader, Itzel strives to reduce disparities and promote social mobility for historically under-resourced communities.
Designing Leadership Spaces That Center Lived Experience • Racquel D. Henderson | City of Omaha - Mayor's Office | Leadership Omaha Alumni
Too often, community leadership programs are impressive on paper, but disconnected from the people most impacted by the issues they aim to address. This interactive workshop challenges participants to rethink how leadership spaces are designed, who they are built for, and whose voices are truly shaping decisions.
Drawing from lived experience, public-sector leadership, and years of community-based work with system-impacted youth and adults, this session explores how to move from performative engagement to meaningful, trust-building leadership models. Participants will examine common barriers that unintentionally exclude community voices, including over-reliance on academic credentials, rigid application processes, and " one-size-fits-all " leadership pathways.
Through small-group discussions, real-world case examples, and hands-on design exercises, participants will practice reimagining leadership programs that center lived experience, compensate participation, and create clear pathways from community input to action. The session will also explore how trauma-informed and equity-centered practices can strengthen, not dilute, leadership development.
Participants will leave with practical tools to redesign or strengthen their own programs, ensuring leadership initiatives are not only inclusive, but impactful, sustainable, and grounded in the realities of the communities they serve.
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bout the Speaker: Racquel D. Henderson Born and raised in North Omaha, Racquel Henderson is a fearless leader, activist, and community advocate dedicated to education, employment, equity, and second chances. She currently serves as the Community Liaison for North Omaha in the Mayor's Office, where she works to bridge the gap between residents and City Hall, ensuring community voices shape policy and access to resources. Racquel is a Consultant with EPIC for Girls, empowering girls of color through sports and leadership, and a Consultant for Nebraska Medicine, where she supports young adults through mentorship and workforce readiness programming within the Health Care Collaborative Academy. She also consults with the Empowerment Network, where she helped create and now leads the Skill Up! Program, supporting adults in strengthening their lives, careers, and stability while continuing to uplift system-impacted youth through the Lived Experience Project. A professor at the University of Nebraska?Omaha & Lincoln, she challenges students to critically engage with race and justice, blending lived experience with academic rigor. She also serves on the board of I Be Black Girl, driving transformative change, and is the Vice President for Identity Preparatory Academy, a forthcoming girls' middle school in North Omaha focused on leadership, identity, and cultural pride. A sought-after speaker, mentor, and award-winning community leader, Racquel's work is rooted in resilience, accountability, and belief in what is possible. Above all, she is a proud mother of two, committed to building a world where her children-and all young people-have access, opportunity, and the freedom to become who they are meant to be.
Transforming Alumni Passion into Action and Measurable Community Impact • Becky Ruppert McMahon | Cleveland Leadership Center
How can leadership programs move alumni engagement beyond attendance and affinity to sustained action and community-level impact? This workshop offers a practical, replicable roadmap grounded in the Cleveland Leadership Center’s newly launched 10-year strategic vision, Vision 2035, and its Alumni Activation strategy—designed with extensive alumni input.
Participants will explore a comprehensive playbook for mobilizing alumni as active changemakers across a continuum of engagement, from low-barrier community connections to long-term systems change. The session introduces concrete tools - including an Alumni Engagement Strategy Map, the CLC Change Leader Continuum, and the Social Change Wheel - that help translate engagement goals into aligned alumni action.
Attendees will also learn how CLC leveraged alumni data to inform strategic decisions, including the creation of a new Director of Alumni Engagement role, and how data can guide investment, staffing, and program design in other leadership organizations. The workshop features an in-depth case study of a current CLC pilot initiative, offering early insights, practical lessons learned, and real-time examples of convening alumni around pressing community challenges.
Designed for leadership program professionals at all stages, this session equips participants with actionable frameworks, strategic insights, and adaptable tools to activate alumni networks, strengthen civic engagement, and drive measurable community impact.
About the Speaker: Becky Ruppert McMahon joined the Cleveland Leadership Center as President and CEO in July 2024. She leads the civic education, leadership development, and civic engagement organization in its execution of numerous programs to build civic leadership capacity. As a proud member of Leadership Cleveland 2018 and Cleveland Bridge Builders 2008, Becky strives each day to fulfill her personal mission to live a life rooted in meaningful relationships, purpose, and a passion for the possibilities of tomorrow.
Before joining CLC, Becky spent a decade as CEO for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, a professional association for lawyers and business professionals dedicated to promoting the rule of law and the legal profession. She also held positions as General Counsel for Cuyahoga Community College, Deputy General Counsel for KeyBank National Association, and a litigation associate with Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff.
In addition to her passion for the legal industry, Becky is committed to board service. Becky serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for First Federal Lakewood, the largest independent depositor-owned bank headquartered in Ohio with assets of $3 billion; and she is a founding Director of First Mutual Holding Co., a member-owned holding company created to serve a singular mission: to help mutual banks serve their communities and prosper in today's financial climate. She has also served on several nonprofit boards including most recently the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation, Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital Foundation, Lake Ridge Academy, and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.
Becky is a graduate of both Smith College and The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Beyond her professional commitments, Becky spends as much time as possible outdoors with her daughter, Natalie, a student at Penn State University, and their Mini Aussie, Beatrice.
The 'Reverse Keynote': Leadership Insights in the Age of AI • Abraham Sorock | LeadersAtlas Jill Goodman | Leadership Austin
How are leadership development organizations actually using AI today? This panel will break down their best practices for AI adoption, reveal the tools they've tested (and which ones they ditched), and share candid lessons learned. You'll hear what's working in practice: automating routine tasks, enhancing member engagement, improving program design, and more. Discover the critical questions to ask before investing in any AI tool and leave with a realistic roadmap for AI strategy in your organization.
About the Speaker: Abraham Sorock is Founder of LeadersAtlas Mosaic, an AI-powered platform that helps organizations capture and scale their collective wisdom. A trusted advisor to corporate and community leaders across the US, Europe, and Asia, Abe specializes in integrating AI with evolving workplace dynamics to turn abstract strategies into visible stories of impact. Abe has lived in Austin since 2022 and regularly brings his remote team in to experience the vibrant and welcoming Austin tech scene.
About the Speaker: Jill Goodman has worked with dozens of organizations to build transformative cultures and new strategic futures. Jill envisions a growing community of leaders who create exponential impact across Central Texas (and the world). She most recently served as Deputy Chief of Strategy & Innovation for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). She also serves on the steering committee for the National Community Leadership Collaborative. Jill is an alumnus of Leadership Austin's 2015 Essential Class and loves new coffee spots.
Best Practices Panel : Scaling Your Organization • Panelists | Various Leadership Programs
Expansion is risky. Panelists discuss the lessons they learned from growing their organizations. They'll reveal how they knew it was time to expand, which expansions delivered real ROI, and the creative funding strategies that made growth possible. Hear real examples of expansions that truly benefited their orgs, from new program launches to staffing increases. Leave knowing the right questions to ask before you scale.
Panelists:
Jessica Hendricks | Leadership Unlimited
Alfred Degrafinreid | Leadership Tennessee
Lisa Winkelbauer | Leadership Orlando
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bout the Moderator: Cynthia Knapek Cynthia Knapek has served as President of the Leadership Louisville Center since 2012, leading its growth into the nation’s largest community-based leadership development organization, graduating more than 500 leaders annually. She also serves as CEO of LeadingBetter, the organization’s professional development partner brand.
Cynthia currently serves as Executive Chair of the National Community Leadership Collaborative, helping connect and strengthen community leadership programs nationwide, and is a partner with the Builder’s Movement. A recognized civic and business leader, Cynthia has served on numerous community boards and was named one of Business First’s Most Admired CEOs in 2020. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Louisville and brings experience spanning government, corporate, and nonprofit sectors.
Designing Leadership Programs That Scale with Purpose • Jessica Erickson | Technology Association of Iowa
As community leadership programs grow, leaders face a critical challenge: how to scale offerings to meet demand while preserving depth, quality, and participant experience. This session explores how the Technology Association of Iowa built and scaled a multi-tier leadership development platform; serving early-career professionals, mid-to-senior leaders, and alumni; without sacrificing engagement or learning outcomes.
Using Iowa Tech Connect (early-career) and the Iowa Technology Leadership Institute (mid-senior leaders) as case studies, participants will examine how intentional program architecture, consistent session design, and adaptive facilitation can support multiple cohorts while remaining responsive to participant needs. Attendees will learn how to move from managing a single program to stewarding a scalable leadership platform grounded in shared values, flexible curriculum, and repeatable operations.
About the Speaker: Jessica Erickson is the Senior Director of Events & Programs at the Technology Association of Iowa, bringing 15 years of experience in event management, program development, and community engagement. She leads a portfolio of signature events, two statewide professional development programs, and a growing Alumni network-creating meaningful, high-impact experiences that foster connection, innovation, and learning across Iowa's tech ecosystem.
Jessica holds a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) credential and a Training & Facilitation Certificate, and is a proud Iowa State University alum. Outside of work, she enjoys DIY projects, travel, reading, and spending time with her nine nieces and nephews.