Lead Forward, Designing my future

The mission of Lead Forward, Designing My Future is to inspire participants to create an impactful environment by learning positive life and leadership skills through community engagement. Participants will identify the strengths and possible opportunities within their neighborhoods in the city of Pittsburgh by exploring its history through the eyes of community leaders and innovators, both past and present. These leaders will promote positive behaviors by facilitating discussions centered around the importance of adapting in adverse environments as well as having both strong self-discipline and an attitude toward productivity, designing a model of success for the future of their communities as emerging leaders. 

Through the 8-week program, each participant will redesign their future by exploring their community of residence; evaluating their role in service leadership to create a stronger, more stable community. Participation is open to (ages 13-17 & 18-45), providing age appropriate materials, workshops, and projects to participants to ensure maximum benefit. Coupled with exercises of discipline and the leadership skills of current community leaders, participants will also learn about financial literacy, project management, business discovery, and character and workforce development, among other things. For the final project, participants will create a community-wide event using the skills gained throughout the program. 

This event will highlight the best parts of Designing My Future, as well as exact positive change on community members and leaders. Upon completion of the program, a mentor will be assigned to each participant to hold them accountable, encouraging them to continue utilizing the resources and information learned through the program, as well as to offer further assistance in areas specific to workshops and exercises presented during the program. 

Designing My Future embraces the challenges of communication, presentation, etiquette (behavior), discipline, and proper planning to position participants to strengthen their community by their own design. These lifelong skills will be etched into the minds of the participants, as well as promote further engagement, unifying their community and awakening a desire to see positive change for their entire neighborhood. When engagement takes place, strength is created. Strength in unity gives birth to and grows leaders and Designing My Future will help mold participants into the leaders they are destined to be.