With nearly 36% of New York City’s eight million residents foreign-born, immigrant communities confront numerous barriers to full participation in the City's civic life. These hurdles include under-representation in elected offices, limited access to public decision-makers, and insufficient understanding of public policy processes. For New York City to thrive, all of her residents – native-born and recently-arrived – must have a voice in the life of the City. And we must invest in emerging leaders.

Through the Immigrant Civic Leadership Program, participants tackle tough questions such as:

• How can immigrant leaders effectively leverage resources to meet our community's needs?
• What types of strategies and partnerships are necessary to influence public decision-making?
• How can I, personally, improve my leadership skills? Where am I most and least effective? How can I cultivate my self-awareness and capacity to excel as a leader?
• How can I engage in work that is sustainable for myself, my institution, and the communities I serve?

Program Components

Opening Retreat - intensive immersion into the concepts that the participants will use and encounter throughout the program year.

Strategy Days - full-day Tuesday sessions that meet once a month to explore multiple perspectives and interests shaping NYC immigration issues. Participants use Coro's model of "inquiry-based instruction" to explore the often hidden dynamics and systems that shape New York City public decision-making.

Check out past Strategy Day agendas (pdfs): City Finance | Media

Personal Leadership Days – full-day Saturday sessions that meet once a month to help participants develop practices for effective, sustainable leadership over the course of a lifetime. Specific practices include: understanding leadership styles, goal-setting, communication, listening, giving and receiving feedback, coaching, and decision-making. 

Program Fees

Participation in ICLP is based on a sliding scale fee in accordance with the annual operating budget of a participant’s employer. Please consult the Application Supplement for more details of the fee structure. The program fee covers approximately 100 hours (13 days) of training, including an orientation, an opening retreat in July, one weekday and one Saturday session per month between July and November, a 360 degree feedback survey, and a final evaluation and graduation session in November. Please note that a portion of these fees will also contribute towards scholarships to assist participants unable to cover the full program fee.

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