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Community Leaders Podcast

Community Leaders Podcast

By Community Leaders Podcast

To identify leaders within a community and provide them with the mentoring, networking, and skill-building resources to amplify their impact in the neighborhoods in which they live and work.

Live Here, Work Here, Lead Here!
Currently playing episode

Meet Fellow: Lee Ann Eiland

Community Leaders PodcastDec 02, 2022

00:00
38:17
Meet Fellow: Roberta Bernice

Meet Fellow: Roberta Bernice

Join Community Leadership Fellows for our 16th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as we sit down and talk with Roberta Bernice CLF ’23 Fellow and CEO and Founder of The Blossom Room. Hear more about her mission to use the Arts to help the youth gain back their voices. Roberta "Bernice" Logwood has 15+ years of experience as a mentor, youth organizer, and spoken word artist. Additionally, she’s very passionate about modeling, and ensuring young women see themselves as beautiful, both inside and out. She believes that part of succeeding is knowing who you are (your true identity), and this can be fostered by providing mentorship, and encouraging accountability. Roberta has led programs that include but not limited to: Spoken Word, Suicide Awareness, and Missing & Exploited Teens. In addition to her experience, she has 3 years of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) training, is CPR &AED Certified, Mental Health FirstAid Certified, and has 10+ years of early childhood in-home education. Roberta envisions a world where everyone is able to fully express themselves with confidence, thereby alleviating some of the stressors that come with the trials and tribulations of life. Fellow: Roberta Bernice Facebook: Roberta Bernice Host: D'elegance Lane Instagram: @abeautifultech Instagram: @inspirethenxt CLF IG: clfchi

May 29, 202350:06
Meet Fellow: Alees Edwards

Meet Fellow: Alees Edwards

Join Community Leadership Fellows for our 15th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as we sit down and talk with Alees Edwards. CLF ’23 Fellow and 10th District Council member. Hear more about her mission to grow community through her Block Club initiative. Alees Edwards is a community organizer that has over 10 years of experience meeting the needs in the underserved community. Her extensive work in the community has stretched across her professional career and personal life. Alees uses faith-based principles as a foundation to implement anti-violence strategies for community safety, minister to those that are experiencing homelessness, reaching out to those that with a previous record and/or have been incarcerated, and providing resources and meeting the needs in marginalized communities. Her mission is to facilitate the process of creating whole individuals, financially thriving communities, and healthy strong family units. Fellow: Alees Edwards LinkedIn: Alees Edwards Instagram: @aleesedwards Facebook: aleesedwards Host: D'elegance Lane Instagram: @abeautifultech Instagram: @inspirethenxt CLF IG: clfchi

May 29, 202336:54
Meet Fellow: Lady Sanders

Meet Fellow: Lady Sanders

Join Community Leadership Fellows for our 14th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as we sit down and talk with Raytheon "Lady" Sanders CLF ’23 Fellow and Program manager at My Block, My Hood, My City! Hear more about her mission to be the person she needed growing up to the youth in North Lawndale. Lady was born and raised on the Westside of Chicago in the North Lawndale community. She’s a proud aunt of 18 nieces and nephews. Lady graduated with a B.A. in Mass Communications from Benedict College. She’s a proud HBCU graduate! While working on the pursuit of her dreams to one day become a Film Producer and Director, she focuses on giving back to the youth within and outside of her community. She is persistent and dedicated to the greater good of all people especially young people and seeks to advance as an individual. They say “Do what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life” Fellow: Lady Sanders LinkedIn: Gaython Sanders Host: D'elegance Lane Instagram: @abeautifultech Instagram: @inspirethenxt CLF IG: clfchi

May 29, 202330:29
Meet Fellow: Mercedes Pickett

Meet Fellow: Mercedes Pickett

Join Community Leadership Fellows for our 13th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as we sit down and talk with Mercedes Pickett, CLF ’23 Fellow and Founder & CEO of Earth’s Remedies. Mercedes Pickett is the founder and CEO of a local non-profit, Earth's Remedies (E.R.). As a community architect, she connects the West Side scholars, families, and small businesses to free developmental resources, allowing the residents to improve their quality of life and life expectancy. Mercedes is also a database developer at an innovative analytics firm, StrategIQ Commerce, and has grown with the company for more than a decade. She uses her technical skills to create a cohesive, decentralized network for shared resources and streamline communications. Mercedes' community service work began during her primary education year, as she would tutor her peers and mentor the younger class. Receiving the Gates Millennium Scholar in 2009, Mercedes attended DePaul University, receiving her Bachelors in Literacy Studies. In 2016, Mercedes launched Earth's Remedies, a platform that connected free tutoring services to scholars located in historically disinvested neighborhoods. As Earth's Remedies evolved into a hub of resources, Mercedes noticed, that in order to meet the scholar's needs, the community would have to address additional hardships the scholar and their families were facing. Earth's Remedies now connect disenfranchised communities to free financial literacy, health & wellness, education, business resources, and violence prevention resources; and as a community stakeholder, investing on the West-side of Chicago, Mercedes hopes to create greenhouses around the West-side to connect families to safe spaces and wellness resources. Fellow: Mercedes Pickett LinkedIn: Mercedes Pickett IG:Mercy.eterne Earth's Remedies IG: earths_remedies FB: Earths Remedies Host: D'elegance Lane Instagram: @abeautifultech Instagram: @inspirethenxt CLF IG: clfchi

Apr 21, 202354:35
Meet Fellow Edward Whitaker

Meet Fellow Edward Whitaker

oin me for our 12th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as I sit down and talk with Edward Whitaker CLF ’23 Fellow and Officer of CPD.  


Edward Whitaker is an experienced officer in the Chicago Police Department. He currently serves as a Community Policing Officer in CPD’s 15th District, where he develops community-based strategies involving law enforcement and nonprofit partners. Edward is a Chicago native who was born on the city’s Westside in the West Humboldt Park community and is now a resident ofAustin. He is a graduate of George Westinghouse HS and North Park University.


At the heart of his philosophy to positively impact the lives of Chicagoans, is creating a culture of legacy. The goal is to provide a tangible example to the youth he mentors. In community policing, the goal is to employ social justice as a violence prevention strategy. Addressing issues of access, equity, rights, and participation has yielded positive results in both reducing violence and improving the quality of life for residents in some of the city’s most troubled neighborhoods.


Edward was named Illinois Fatherhood Initiative 2021 Community Father of The Year. Edward also serves as a coach and mentor for the Chicago Westside Police and Youth Sports Conference.


Instagram: @MrEd2u 

Facebook: edwhitaker


Host: D'elegance Lane

Instagram: @abeautifultech 

Instagram: @inspirethenxt


Apr 21, 202336:51
Meet Fellow: LaCreshia Birts

Meet Fellow: LaCreshia Birts

Join me for our 11th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as I sit down and talk with LaCreshia Birts CLF ’23 Fellow Community Activist and Co-Founder of Black Remembrance Project.  


LaCreshia Birts is a Chicago native who is deeply devoted to restorative and economic justice. She began organizing in 2014 around police accountability and criminal justice reform. She earned her stripes as a community organizer by volunteering with groups such as BYP100, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), and Ujimaa Medics (UMedics). In 2019, LaCreshia co-founded the Black Remembrance Project and initiated a city-wide campaign to get Juneteenth recognized as an official holiday. In addition to coordinating local Juneteenth efforts, she works with local and national groups fighting for reparations for Descendants of U.S. Chattel Slavery.  



Instagram: @lacreshiabirts 

Linkedin: Lacreshiabirts 

Facebook: Lacreshiabirts 


Host: D'elegance Lane

Instagram: @abeautifultech 

Instagram: @inspirethenxt



Apr 21, 202343:35
Special Black History Month Podcast

Special Black History Month Podcast

For Black History Month, CLF has partnered with Inspirethenxt, a youth organization on the westside of Chicago, to bring you a special youth led podcast show “We Got The Mic. ” Join youth guest host, Yoshi, for a special Black History Month episode. Listen as she sits down with Ms. Maretta Brown-Miller, a Baby Boomer ll and Jacques Beasley, Gen Z, from the Austin community.  Listen as the three breakdown intergenerational relationships and generational traumas. 


Youth Host: Yoshi 

Guest: Maretta Brown-Miller

Maretta Brown-Miller is a champion and steadfast advocate for men, women and youth in Chicago, but the West Side in particular. Her professional career, volunteer engagement aligns with her love for community and commitment to youth empowerment.

A true champion for the youth. Maretta is dedicated professionally and personally to making sure every resident of the West Side has access and the opportunity to be successful in education and life. Recognized throughout the city as a community access advocate and warrior, her work as a Project Manager, Legislative and Community Affairs for the Chicago Park District is way more than just a job, it is her passion.


Guest: Jacques Beasley 

Organization: Root2fruit Youth Organization/ASAP



Thank you to all our partners! 

Mar 01, 202358:23
Meet Fellow: Arewa Winters

Meet Fellow: Arewa Winters

Join me for our 10th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as I sit down and talk with Arewa Winters CLF ’23 Fellow Founder/Spokeswoman for The 411 Movement for Pierre Loury. Arewa is running for 10th District Council Member.


Born in North Lawndale and raised in the Austin Community on Chicago’s Greater Westside by two phenomenal parents who taught her to operate with integrity, care for and about people, advocate for her community, especially it’s most vulnerable, have a strong work ethic and lastly be truthful in her words, actions and deeds. Arewa Winters gained much lived experience and cultural identity working as a Youth Prevention Specialist and Case Manager for the mentally ill and homeless at Bobby E. Wright Comprehensive Community Health Care Center. She is currently taking a Trauma & Resiliency Training with the Arizona Trauma Institute to become a certified Life Coach in Trauma Care. She is the Founder and Spokeswoman for The 411 Movement for Pierre Loury since 2016. She lost her great nephew to a police involved shooting and it is what ignited her work for police oversight, accountably, reform and social justice.


Social Media Handles

  • Instagram @ karenfor15
  • Facebook @ ArewaKarenWinter
  • Website: www.karenfor15.com
Feb 27, 202355:00
Meet Fellow: Elianne Bahena

Meet Fellow: Elianne Bahena

Join me for our 9th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as I sit down and talk with Elianne Bahena CLF ’23 Fellow and Director of Policy and Community Outreach for the 22nd Ward, City of Chicago. Elianne is running for 10th District Council Member. 


Elianna Bahena Bio

Elianne "Ely"Bahena (she, her, ella) is an immigration rights advocate and justice-driven professional from the Little Village neighborhood. She has a background in community partnerships, nonprofit management, and empowering vulnerable communities. Elianne serves as the Director of Policy and Community Outreach at the 22nd Ward Public Service Office where her focus is to ensure the best quality of life for the residents of the Ward. Before joining the 22nd Ward, she worked in the nonprofit sector for more than seven years, advocating for the protection of immigrant survivors of Domestic Violence and for the rights of immigrant communities across Illinois.

In addition to her work, Elianne currently serves as the Chairwoman of Enlace Chicago’sAssociate Board (ECAB),Co-Chair of the Young Women’s Giving Council at the Chicago Foundation for Women, the Executive Board of HACE's Chicago Auxiliary Board, and the Board of Directors for Mujeres Latinas en Accion.

As a proud daughter to immigrant parents and as a first generation college graduate, Elianne uses her personal experiences to empower and bring justice to immigrant communities.



Social Media Handles 

  • Instagram @ hijadelavillita
  • Instagram @ bahenafor10
  • Instagram @ cuentamecomadre
  • Email: eliannebahena@gmail.com



Feb 11, 202346:09
Meet Fellow: Jamil Brown

Meet Fellow: Jamil Brown

Join me for our 8th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as I sit down and talk with Jamil Brown CLF ’23 Fellow and 10th District CAPS Office as the Youth Liaison and the Faith Based Liaison.

Jan 20, 202337:43
Meet Fellow: Aisha Oliver

Meet Fellow: Aisha Oliver

Join me for our 7th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as sit down and I talk with Aisha Oliver CLF ’23 Fellows and Community Leaders.

Jan 06, 202337:39
Meet Fellows: Diana Franco & Alex Ramon

Meet Fellows: Diana Franco & Alex Ramon

Join me for our 6th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as sit down and I talk with Diana Franco & Alex Ramon CLF ’23 Fellows and Community Leaders. 

Dec 23, 202249:49
Meet Fellow: Lee Ann Eiland

Meet Fellow: Lee Ann Eiland

Join me for our 5th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as sit down and I talk with Lee Ann Eiland CLF ’23 Fellow, Principal of Eiland and Associates and Co-Founder of Mama's Need Love Too. 

Dec 02, 202238:17
Meet Fellow: Jackie Hoffman

Meet Fellow: Jackie Hoffman

Join me for our 4th episode of Community Leaders Podcast as sit down and I talk with Jackie Hoffman CLF ’23 Fellow and Founder & President of Peace Runners 773.


Nov 18, 202248:14
Meet Fellows: Patty & DeAngelo

Meet Fellows: Patty & DeAngelo

Join me this week as I sit down with Fellows, Patty and DeAngelo to talk CLF, current Projects, future plans and so much more. 

Sep 23, 202235:19
The Launch of CLF Fellows

The Launch of CLF Fellows

Join me for our second episode of Community Leaders Podcast as I talk about the launch of Community Leadership Fellows with Co-Founder and Executive Director, Alexandra Auguste and Advisory Council Person, Jermaine Harris.

Sep 16, 202228:20
Community Leaders Fellows Presents: Special Black History Month Podcast - Intergenerational Talks

Community Leaders Fellows Presents: Special Black History Month Podcast - Intergenerational Talks

In this episode, we are going to kick down the doors with our Intriguing Intergenerational Conversation with special community guest: Casandra Norman, Emone Guadeem and Tristan Phipps. 

Feb 28, 202234:07