Fellow Spotlight: Jeremy Leon

Jeremy Leon was with us as a fellow from CIBC from October to December 2018.

What project work were you involved in during your time at the Civic Consulting Alliance?

While at the Civic Consulting Alliance I worked with West Side United, a collaborative of six hospital systems on Chicago’s West Side working to build community health and economic wellness through 10 priority initiatives. My work centered on West Side United's education initiative, which is one of the 10 priority areas. Specifically, I helped develop the collective’s education strategy, which will lay the groundwork for how West Side United can leverage the resources and capabilities of its member hospitals to impact education outcomes and student health in West Side schools.

What will you take away from your time at Civic Consulting Alliance?

One thing I came to really appreciate is the power of collective impact. It’s hard to make change in silos. To impact communities, it’s important to align resources, energy, and human capital across institutions, across sectors, and across stakeholder groups.

How has your time at Civic Consulting Alliance helped you develop professionally?

I think that the most important tool Civic Consulting Alliance gave me was how to think through a long-term lens, and develop intermediate processes to move toward those objectives. While thinking about macro issues such as education, it was important to have a long-term vision, but also to establish short-term goals and milestones to move towards that vision.

Civic Consulting Alliance Fellowships are full-time positions that last between three months and a year. In every case, Fellows are integrated into project teams for a unique professional development opportunity. Please visit the Fellowships page on our website to learn more about our range of fellowship opportunities.