It is hard to downplay the importance of neighborhood leadership as a critical element in the process of neighborhood change. Leadership has been defined throughout time in a multitude of ways, always varying within the situations and settings in which it is applied. This paper will examine the definitions of leadership in today's society, and how those definitions apply to communities in need, and will explore whether training leaders within the community can build social capital, ultimately creating community equity and capacity in failing neighborhoods.
Current trends in community building and neighborhood revitalization favor the involvement and investment of individuals who dwell within those neighborhoods at risk. Dedication and commitment from those individuals can provide an asset base for aspiring neighborhoods. Leadership that involves community members and draws upon their roots, sharing in the management, direction, and evaluation of the work, are characteristics that define the style known as collaborative leadership.
A second important ingredient in the process of successful change is the interplay between human capital and social capital in increasing community capacity. Community capacity is ??the interaction of human capital, organizational resources, and social capital existing within a given community that can be leveraged to solve collective problems and improve or maintain the well-being of that community. It may operate through informal social processes and/or organized efforts by individuals, organizations, and social networks that exist among them and between them, and the larger systems of which the community is a part.?(Chaskin et al, 2001 p7)
Human capital is defined as ?the knowledge, skills, and competencies and other attributes embodied in individuals that are relevant to economic activity? (Schuller, 2001). Social capital is the ?? features of social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit? (Putnam,1993). Human capital may be easily measured, and is accrued in traditional ways (e.g., schooling, community status and knowledge, economic success (achieved legally or illegally)). Social capital is not so easily assessed, nor is it at all clear how it develops in neighborhoods. This paper will examine the leadership outcome to increasing human and social capital, and hence building community capacity.
Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland (NLC) is a university based structured program which trains self-identified grass roots leaders on the art of collaborative leadership. In addressing the need for building community capacity within distressed neighborhoods, NLC asserts that training and educating potential leaders can affect organization and application of capital in the community. These leaders can in turn unlock the potential of community capacity via social capital, ultimately providing a base for neighborhood-led transition in communities of need.
This dissertation will evaluate the impact that NLC training has on organizing and applying human capital and social capital by its leaders. It will look at the short and long term effects of training self-identified community leaders in collaborative leadership. Specifically, the hypothesis to be tested is whether leadership training of self-selected leaders can build social capital skills and promote its effective use. I will answer the question: Does leadership training of self-selected leaders, in a classroom setting, produce social capital skills and increase the effectiveness of that capital?s use in distressed communities? I will use phone surveys and focus groups to determine whether individual leadership training resulted in the fuse or spark to put into motion the potential energy conversion process for the creation of social capital and its efficient use. Specific factors to be measured will include: Groups and Networks, Trust and Solidarity, Collective Action and Cooperation, Information and Communication, Social Cohesion and Inclusion, and Empowerment and Political Action