“Impact Leadership”: Pre-Session Assignment
Writing a Description of Your “Leadership Initiative”
As a leader in your public defense or assigned counsel program, you’ve had lots of good ideas
that could improve the quality of representation your program provides or build more community
support for public defense services. Normally there is little time to think strategically about turning
those ideas into actual initiatives. Nor do you have access to others – fellow defenders,
leadership experts, or communications experts – who can help you translate your ideas into
reality. “Impact Leadership” will fill this void by providing you the space and the expertise you
need to translate your ideas into specific steps and plans.
To make the most of the limited time we have at “Impact Leadership,” the faculty asks that
you do some thinking ahead of time about your initiative and submit a brief written
description of it.
Writing up your Leadership Initiative description accomplishes three things:
 First, it focuses your attention on the initiative that will be the focal point of your Impact
Leadership experience.
 Second, it gets you thinking through the types of issues and questions seminar faculty
will explore with you at the session, so you will be ready to engage those questions at a
more in-depth level from day one.
 Third, it educates seminar faculty about you, your goals, the questions on your mind, and
themes common to the session participants. This information will allow faculty to tailor
their teaching, making it as useful as possible.
What is a Leadership Initiative?
A Leadership Initiative is a project, plan or idea relating to justice in your state you could imagine
initiating in the next several months. The initiative might involve taking a new approach in an
existing project that needs an ‘infusion of energy’ ’ or it may involve a nascent idea that you would
like to shape and set on course. In preparation for this leadership training focus on a project,
plan, or idea you would like to initiate, then put pen to paper and tell us about it.
To help you organize your thoughts and to help ensure faculty have the type of information they
need to inform their teaching, we’d like you to use this outline as a guide in writing your narrative:
I.
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Describe your initiative in general
What issue(s) does your Leadership Initiative address?
What goal/objective do you have in mind in doing this work?
Why do you/your organization want to address this issue?
What unique knowledge, skills, or perspective do you/your organization bring?
What, exactly, will you/your organization do as part of this initiative?
What are the most significant barriers to the successful implementation of your initiative?
II.
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Community outreach networking to further your initiative
Who will work with you to achieve your goal?
Who will benefit from this work?
Who will be threatened by it?
How will this initiative help your clients, your community, and/or your justice system?
III.
Race, gender and other issues of power and difference
 Will your initiative address any issues of power in the criminal justice or broader
community?
 Will it address issues of race or gender?
 In discussing your initiative – internally or externally – do you discuss the ways in which it
addresses these issues?
IV.
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Communicating the value of your initiative inside and outside your office
Do people in your organization know about this initiative idea?
If so, how have they reacted to it?
If not, what is your plan for involving them?
Has anyone else done what you are thinking about doing?
For illustrative purposes only, here are examples of the types of initiatives that would lend
themselves to discussion at an “Impact Leadership” session:
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Establish a “Community Advisory Board” for your public defense program
Build a strategic partnership with local legal aid program to enhance
community services to clients and their families suffering with both mental illness
and chemical addiction.
Develop a community-outreach plan to address client housing issues and
employment needs
Assist clients with immigration consequences of criminal involvement
Initiate or join a legislative reform effort relating to laws that affect clients and
their families
Initiate a reentry program that addresses the restoration of civil rights,
expungment of criminal records and employment licensing requirements
If you have any questions, please call Cait Clarke at 202-452-0620 ext. 226.
PLEASE SEND YOUR LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE to Cait Clarke via e-mail c.clarke@nlada.org or
by FAX to 202-872-1031 by September 09, 2003.