Overview: The Spring Semester of Empower LA’s Leadership Academy is on the road with a brand new roster of empowerment sessions designed to support the upcoming Neighborhood Council elections with workshops on outreach, communications, and advocacy.

Empower Yourself sessions are hands-on opportunities that feature topics such as Public Speaking, Social Media, Powerful Partnerships, Group Dynamics, Successful Advocacy, and Parliamentary Procedure. The tools and strategies presented in these sessions are designed for personal growth.

Empower Your Community sessions present tools and strategies for improving the effectiveness of neighborhood councils and include Advocacy Campaigns, Media Strategies, Outreach Tools, Neighborhood Networks, Communications, WordPress Websites, Newsletter Strategies, and Managing Mailing Lists.

Empower LA sessions are hosted by General Manager BongHwan (BH) Kim and feature City Hall leaders at the GM’s Roundtable. These are great opportunities for neighborhood councils to engage stakeholders in face-to-face sessions with the people responsible for running the city and delivering City Services.

Purpose: Neighborhood Council elections are a Neighborhood Council’s most significant and powerful outreach event, offering the opportunity to tell the NC story to the community, to revitalize the council with energetic candidates, to connect with stakeholders, and to establish priorities for the upcoming terms. NC Elections are a beginning, not an end, and a commitment to reaching out to the community with workshops that will engage qualified candidates will result in robust participation in the Neighborhood Council system.

Strategy: EmpowerLA’s Leadership Academy typically features sessions that focus on board operations and standards. These include Brown Act training, Ethics training, Funding training, etc. In light of the upcoming Neighborhood Council elections, the Leadership Academy shifted the focus and is offering sessions that will attract new stakeholders and potential candidates while offering tools to existing boardmembers that will aid them in advocacy, outreach, and communications. The objective is to support the upcoming Neighborhood Council elections.

Workshops: The workshops are designed to provide tools and strategies for engaging stakeholders and candidates, for increasing council effectiveness, and for establishing an effective foundation of outreach and communications. The courses range from personal growth workshops that develop community leaders to advocacy training and board capacity workshops for councils. The workshops are complemented several GM Rountables, hosted by Department of Neighborhood Empowerment General Manager BongHwan “BH” Kim, that bringing City Hall to the communities.

WORKSHOPS

Empower Yourself sessions are hands-on opportunities that feature topics such as Public Speaking, Social Media, Powerful Partnerships, Group Dynamics, Successful Advocacy, and Parliamentary Procedure. The tools and strategies presented in these sessions are designed for personal growth.

“Get Connected”

build some Klout by getting your Tweet on, filling your Facebook, building up your YouTube library, and embracing the social media revolution
facilitated by Enci Box

“Powerful Public Presentations”

overcome your fear of speaking in public and master the essential skill that ekey to the success of advocates, community leaders, and professionals
facilitated by John F. John Jr.

“The Three P’s of Powerful Advocacy”

sometimes the most effective solutions are the simplest.
the three P’s are certainly simple, but they are also time-tested effective
facilitated by Commissioner Douglas Epperhart

“Unlocking the Mysteries of Parliamentary Procedure”

from Lord of the Flies to the House of Commons, there are rules for meetings. Find your talking stick, master Robert’s Rules of Order, and participate confidently in public meetings
facilitated by Ivan Spiegel

“Running a Great Meeting”

create order out of chaos with these great strategies for engaging the public, conducting the business on the agenda, giving everybody a chance to be heard and getting it done on time
facilitated by Ivan Spiegel

“Discovering Your Story”

everybody has a story and learning to tell that story is the foundation for successful advocacy, whether as an individual or on behalf of a community
facilitated by Cindy Marie Jenkins

“Community Time Banking”

something powerful happens when people begin to share their skills, their knowledge, and their time, creating a community that connects unmet needs with untapped resources
facilitated by Autumn Rooney

Empower Your Community sessions present tools and strategies for improving the effectiveness of neighborhood councils and include Advocacy Campaigns, Media Strategies, Outreach Tools, Neighborhood Networks, Communications, WordPress Websites, Newsletter Strategies, and Managing Mailing Lists.

“Neighborhood Council Elections”

plans for the upcoming neighborhood council elections and the importance of a solid connection between great outreach for candidates and successful voter turnout.
facilitated by Jerry Kvasnicka

“Election Outreach”

the full spectrum of outreach tools, from old school to new school, analog to digital, print to virtual, low-tech to high-end, the choices are yours
facilitated by Stephen Box

“Getting Good Press”

simple rules for press releases that get attention, for engaging journalists, and for telling compelling stories that engage the media and their readers, your stakeholders
facilitated by Stephen Box

“The Secrets of Social Media”

the mysteries of social media are revealed along with tricks for turning Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Constant Contact into tools for “Getting Connected” effectively.
facilitated by Enci Box

“Print Campaigns that Work”

a powerful strategy for using direct mail campaigns to connect with stakeholders, using simple postcards that are specific to an event such as an election and newsletters that include resource information.
facilitated by Cindy Cleghorn

“Email Campaigns & Newsletters”

the secrets of successful email campaigns plus strategies for building robust stakeholder databases and distributing digital newsletters that are appealing and effective.
facilitated by Enci Box

“Branding Your Neighborhood”

election season is an excellent opportunity to tell the Neighborhood Council story and to connect stakeholders with the unique personality and character of their neighborhood
facilitated by Cindy Marie Jenkins

“Horizontal Partnerships, Vertical Growth”

successful advocates forge partnerships based on common ground, increasing their political power and improving the yield from their advocacy efforts
facilitated by Stephen Box

“The Big Story”

branding your neighborhood council is good old-fashioned storytelling and there are eight essential elements to a great story. From Aristotle to Hollywood learn from the masters!
facilitated by Stephen Box

“Advocacy that Works, Outreach that Connects, Elections that Empower”

a blueprint for success that provides tools for defining issues, establishing goals, managing resources, executing strategies, maintaining communications, connecting with community partners, and capitalizing on the upcoming elections as the greatest outreach opportunity for neighborhood councils.
facilitated by Stephen Box

Empower LA sessions are hosted by General Manager BongHwan (BH) Kim and feature City Hall leaders at the GM’s Roundtable. These are great opportunities for neighborhood councils to engage stakeholders in face-to-face sessions with the people responsible for running the city and delivering City Services.

FACILITATORS

Stephen Box is a Transportation Advocate, a Community Activist, and a Grassroots Organizer. As the Executive Director of LA City Works he supports community based organizations with Public Speaking, Civic Engagement, Strategic Planning and Social Media training.As the Creative Director of Third Eye Creative he designs and implements outreach and communication campaigns for people, causes, and organizations. Stephen currently serves as an Election Coordinator for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and is responsible for Outreach and the Spring Semester of EmpowerLA’s Leadership Academy. Stephen and his lovely wife Enci are the proud parents of Sydney István, a newborn who reminds them daily of the importance of investing our talents in the future of our Great City.

Enci Box is a Mother, Actress, Activist and über Networker. In the process of promoting her acting career, Enci put the full spectrum of social media tools to work and began forging alliances and networks in the entertainment industry. Enci teaches the popular “Get Connected” class at AFI, at the SAG Conservatory, at the SAG Foundation, and at USC as well as Neighborhood Alliances citywide. Enci teaches her students to “Pound the keyboards, not the pavement!” using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Google, LinkedIn, IMDB, digg, StumbleUpon and the many other social media tools that are changing the world as we know it. Enci works for the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council on their website, newsletters, and social media outreach and for the Oaks Homeowners Association.

Jerry Kvasnicka’s passion for Neighborhood Council elections began while working with the League of Women Voters. Along with EmpowerLA staff, City Clerk and community stakeholders, the League worked to help produce election procedures for all NCs.Jerry became the first Independent Election Administrator and over the years has administered over 200 elections.All this election biz may seem out of the box considering Jerry’s former life as a performer, as assistant professor at Ohio State University and UCLA; but his later work with nonprofit arts organizations, senior performers, healthcare, and theatre programing fostered sheer enjoyment working with committees and volunteers.

Cindy Cleghorn founded C&M Printing in 1982. Her small business provides services in legal copying, business printing, newsletters, marketing and mailing services serving Sunland-Tujunga, Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank and neighboring Los Angeles communities. Ms Cleghorn is a member, as well as serves, on the board of several business associations including National Association of Women Business Owners – Los Angeles Chapter, who selected her Member of the Year 1993, Women Impacting Public Policy – WIPP, California Association of Business Printers, serving as president – California Small Business Association, and the Kiwanis Club of Glendale, where she served as a Vice President. She serves on the board of the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce, United Chambers of Commerce and its Government Affairs Committee. Cindy received the honor of being elected to serve on the White House Conference on Small Business in 1995.

John F. John Jr. is 22 year resident of Los Angeles.He is a speech writer, public speaking instructor and President of a local Toastmasters club.He has been working with the Neighborhood Council system for five years and has been active in LANCC and the By Law Task Force.He is one of the founders of Neighbors United Los Angeles (NU-LA) and devotes his time helping the underserved neighborhoods find their voice in City politics.

Cindy Marie Jenkins is a Storyteller based in Los Angeles. She uses these skills to train individuals, community organizations, small business owners and nonprofits in Outreach and Social Media. Past and present clients include: The Help Group (named one of the Top Facebook Pages & Twitter Accounts to Follow for Special Education), former City Council President Eric Garcetti’s Los Angeles Neighborhood Dreams Initiative (LAND), The Global Theatre Project, Drive Theatre Company, Sarah Mata Yoga, LA Writers Center, LA Female Playwrights Initiative, Beans Boutique, and many individuals for their career goals. She also recently served as the Outreach Chair for the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council. Her signature workshop Self-Promoting Without Annoying Your Friends has been presented at LAFPI, Directors Lab West, the Playwrights Union, local community mixers, and adjusted for individuals every other month. More information and details can be found on her website at What does a Consultant do?