The Westside Leadership Institute

The Westside Leadership Institute Celebrates 10 Years

Sarah Morton, Development Officer, University Neighborhood Partners with Anna Solomon Edelman, Master of Public Administration Graduate Assistant for the WLI (2013-2015).

The Westside Leadership Institute (WLI) is a program taught by University of Utah faculty and community leaders to support west side residents in pursuit of becoming catalysts for positive change in their communities.

WLI is organized as a partnership between University Neighborhood Partners (UNP), NeighborWorks Salt Lake, and the University of Utah’s Center for Public Policy and Administration. Additional partners that have emerged in the past two years include Comunidades Unidas, the Sorenson Unity Center, the Salt Lake City School District (Glendale/Mountain View Community Learning Center) and the Master of Public Administration, Gender Studies, History, and Honors College departments at the U of U.

The twelve-week course is offered twice per year, alternating between English in the fall and Spanish in the spring. The course relies heavily on experiential learning, and since 2013, students are strongly encouraged to register for the course as part of a group in order to launch into their group project more quickly. The purpose of the group project is to allow students to apply the skills that they developed throughout the course to an existing community issue.

Many of the issues dealt with in WLI group projects are health (mental and physical), neighborhood safety, cleaning up the Jordan River Parkway, developing resources for youth, addressing cultural and language barriers, and increasing access to educational opportunities.

The desire to develop leadership skills stands out consistently as the number one reason community members decide to enroll in the WLI, followed closely by the desire to get involved with community affairs and address community issues. Other reasons for enrollment include:

• “To learn from those that live in the area I work in.”
• “There is not enough voice and representation [in my community].”
• “I want to listen and learn from others in the community in order to better collaborate and support them in their visions.”

In the months following each course, WLI staff and instructors mentor graduates from the previous course toward completion of their projects. The WLI also connects these new leaders to local decision-making bodies, funding sources, and further support. WLI graduates have gone on to become city council members, chair PTA boards, join the boards of organizations like NeighborWorks and UNP, participate in community councils, and work as advocates for their communities.

A major accomplishment in 2014 was the creation of a comprehensive database and map of all WLI projects to date. Anna Solomon, a graduate student from the Master of Public Administration program, combed through a decade’s worth of records and interviewed dozens of past WLI grads to create the map, which can be found on UNP’s website.

The map includes information on each project, including a description, economic impact, and community partnerships.

A Westside Leadership Institute Graduate shares his experience

Tara Timsina, WLI graduate, 2014

The WLI was really a great experience where I learned a lot about how to do community projects, where to start, and how be successful. I learned the process for creating change, like figuring out the issue, brainstorming, and creating an action plan all the way to applying for a grant.

It was a pleasure to meet people from a variety of communities and share all our thoughts and knowledge about development. I loved the activities Mr. Kilo had in class and another fun part was the potluck dinner.

A challenge we had was how far the class was from where we lived. And because of a lack of communication within our community, lots of people are not aware of these kinds of community development activities. Being a minority group here in Utah, Bhutanese community people like me need more education on how to take our community to the next level of success.

The most important thing I learned from WLI was preparing an action plan before starting a project. This is also key for grant writing. Currently, we have formed a grant writing committee within our Bhutanese community. I am one of the members and have started applying for grants to host different kinds of community activities and programs.

This summer we organized a 7-day religious spiritual program in collaboration with all of the Bhutanese community, youth and volunteers. We had another special program for ladies in September, and so much more to come.