Meet Yemi Akande, Ph.D.
Senior Director of Civic Education at the Cleveland Leadership Center

"Can you imagine what would happen if we could galvanize the people in this area to move this region forward?" asked Dr. Yemi Akande, Senior Director of Civic Education at the Cleveland Leadership Center. As the guest speaker this past Wednesday morning at the City Club's New Leaders Dialogues on Leadership series, she initially appeared understated and diminutive in presence.

However, her leadership expertise and competence quickly became evident to the attentive 17-member audience gathered around the conference table. Like a college professor, her former position was teaching in the communications department at John Carroll University, she offered her analysis and posed thought-provoking questions showing dire need for leadership and action in this region.

"There is a difference between managers and leaders," she explained. "We have many managers in this area. The leaders are out there but they are risk-aversive, they are not stepping up to the plate." She encouraged her audience to be open-minded, mindful, and respectful when engaging leaders in constructive dialogue to move this region forward.

"To impact a system," she said, "you have to work in it to effect change and to work collaboratively. We work in silos, it is endemic in all sectors, but the issue of regionalism offers a tremendous opportunity for us to become a unified community and a stronger community," she emphasized. Akande reminded us that Cleveland is known to be one of the most racially segregated cities in this country and how we need to openly address issues of race to overcome our region's obstacles.

Her audience agreed that there are many advantages to this area – the affordability, the accessibility, the philanthropy, and it's a great place to raise a family and do business. She described the leaders as needing vision and a sense of imagination. "We could create a powerful synergy if we could bring all those forces together," she added.

Akande was born and raised in Nigeria. She moved to Missouri where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from Southwest Baptist University. From there, she continued her academic career earning two master's degrees from the University of Oklahoma, one in human resources and organizational development, and the other in public relations and journalism. She later earned her doctorate in communications from the same college. Akande worked several years in Chicago as the associate director of recruitment for the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES), a nonprofit international organization that provides students with high-quality, academic study-abroad programs, before teaching in the communications department at John Carroll University.

She brings a valuable international perspective to the table when talking about leadership and the Northeast Ohio region.

With a diverse portfolio of career achievements already under her belt, Akande now spearheads a major leadership program, the Cleveland Executive Fellowship, funded by the Cleveland Foundation. In its fourth year, the Fellowship provides a one-year immersion program of study in the public, private, and non-profit sectors preparing individuals for effective and ethical leadership in the public arena. Akande, instrumental in guiding this initiative for talent attraction and retention, helps to create a pipeline of emerging leaders for a brighter future in Northeast Ohio.

"Check back at our website" she encouraged, "because we will be offering a new line-up of leadership classes for the public starting in 2009."

From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul susn1ATatt.net

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