NLDP believes in meeting people where they're at, whether that be in their professional community work or in their personal lives, and strives to support graduates through the entirety of their work in their neighborhoods.

This year, for the first time since our program launched in 2006, the NLDP family experienced three deaths in our graduate community. We believed that it was in our DNA to do more, so we began planting trees at Harvard Community Services Center (HCSC) with support from the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. We wanted to honor the lives and contributions of our graduates to Cleveland's neighborhoods while also reflecting on their lives as leaders and people in this world. NLDP invited our graduates, coaches and the family members of the affected graduates to the two tree planting ceremonies we held this year.

So far, we have planted two out of three trees for the graduates, with plans to plant the third in 2023. It is our hope to properly honor the lives lived of our graduates through this lasting tribute to their work in the neighborhoods of Cleveland.

Thank you to our amazing supporters, we are grateful for everything you have done to get this project up and running:

NLDP is proud to have these three community leaders as flames in our graduate community and we wish good health for all NLDP Graduates as we prepare to enter the new year.

Click here to learn more about the lives and work of our three graduates... Cathy Davis, Kevin Lowery and Sharon Kidd.

Megan Bush Granson, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Inbloom Consulting, knows that making a sustainable positive impact — in life and in work — is possible. Megan has over 20 years of experience working with non-profit and business leaders to achieve organizational goals. Her areas of specialization are partnerships and collaborations, business launch, business development, prospect solicitation/fundraising and sales, portfolio creation and management, capital campaigns (including feasibility studies, planning, training, and leadership development), special and major gift strategy, corporate philanthropy, and events.

Megan also teaches nonprofit leadership in the graduate program at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. Megan has a Master of Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Science from Ohio Northern University.

Megan lives in Cleveland with her husband, their two daughters, and two pups, Honey and Baker. They are active members of their church and are involved in community projects.

Michelle Davis didn’t plan to become a Community Development Corporation (CDC) leader, the opportunity quite literally fell in her lap. When seeing an ad in the Cleveland Free Times that read “Are You Tired of Making Money? Come Work for Slavic Village Development as an AmeriCorps VISTA!”, she knew instantly that she had to answer the call. Michelle’s time spent as a VISTA in the Slavic Village neighborhood kept the fire burning, leading to her becoming the Community Organizer for Tremont West Development Corporation. Michelle has enjoyed the two decades in her career so far as an ever-evolving community development leader but she still pushes herself to learn, especially now as she finds herself in the new-to-her role of Assistant Director of Stakeholder & Real Estate Development at St. Clair Superior Development Corporation.

Michelle has experienced challenges that most other CDC leaders can relate to, especially around fundraising. Some of her best experiences at CDCLP included learning from faculty around the topic of fundraising, including the reminder that a key driver in fundraising is relationship building. In addition to being a graduate of CDCLP’s first-ever cohort, Michelle now serves as a Program Coach for CDCLP. As a Program Coach, she hopes to encourage her participants to take risks, challenge themselves and apply the things they’re learning in CDCLP that will help them grow both as people and as CDC leaders.

In Michelle’s eyes, the end goal for CDCs should be to positively impact the lives of residents living in the neighborhoods of Cleveland. She sees CDCLP as serving as a positive force for Cleveland’s CDCs because it brings both knowledge and expertise to specific needs faced by CDCs while also facilitating connections and collaborations between CDC leaders in the cohorts. Michelle believes the CDC ecosystem in Cleveland will thrive when CDCs are working together, getting to know one another and learning from each other to ultimately improve the lives of those in their neighborhoods.

Dennis Knowles, NLDP Cohort VIII Graduate, has recently published a new book through his nonprofit, The Fishing Foundation (TFF). TFF's new book, Learn to Fish: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginning Anglers, was written by TFF co-founders Dennis Knowles and Gail Grizzell and was released late last month on Amazon.

Learn to Fish is a kid’s fishing book with over 100 pages on everything from fishing safety to equipment, preparing to go fishing, casting and landing a fish, and what to do after you catch a fish. While there are other books on the market on how to fish, Dennis believes that none represent a landscape of ethnic inclusion like TFF's new book.

To learn more and purchase the book, visit The Fishing Foundation's website. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Instagram to support Dennis' work in the community.

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, home to both NLDP and CDCLP as well as our CDC Learning Lab (CDCLL), has granted a $5 million challenge grant to Ohio City Inc. and LAND Studio for their Irishtown Bend Park project in the Ohio City neighborhood in Cleveland. This $5 million challenge grant to propel the Irishtown Bend Park project forward will not only enhance the fundraising efforts of the community-based organizations leading these efforts, but will bolster the advancement and strength of the Ohio City neighborhood for generations to come.

Irishtown Bend Park is a 23-acre dynamic, shared public green space that connects downtown and Cleveland neighborhoods to the Cuyahoga River, Lake Erie, and beyond. The plans for Irishtown Bend Park prioritize equity through diversity, accessibility, and inclusion and were shaped by the resident-led Committee of Champions, which puts residents of neighboring Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority properties at the center of park planning. When complete, the Park will enhance community health and connections, expand the city’s green space, promote economic growth, and establish the missing link between the 101-mile Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail and Lake Erie.

Learn more about the challenge grant by reading the press release or visiting Irishtown Bend Park's website.

When Judy Payne, founder of Goods Bank NEO, commits to an idea, she does whatever it takes to make it happen. “My gut told me that this was the right thing to do for our community. What I didn't realize is how fast that would prove to be true,” explains Payne, who also founded the Kids’ Book Bank in 2016.

A community resource center dedicated to providing nominally priced new goods to nonprofit organizations to stretch their impact, the Goods Bank is already improving the lives of individuals and their families.

Here’s what it looks like:

If you know of a nonprofit that could benefit from their services or are looking for volunteer opportunities, please contact the Goods Bank. 

Our Community Development Corporation Learning Lab (CDCLL) serves the St. Clair Superior neighborhood through increasing the capacity of St. Clair Superior Development Corporation (SCSDC). St. Clair Superior is one of the most diverse lakefront communities with a beautiful patchwork of people, businesses, cultures, and micro-neighborhoods along the coast of Lake Erie on Cleveland’s east side. With over 700 businesses in the neighborhood and dedicated residents, St. Clair Superior is on its way to being a thriving and flourishing community in Cleveland.

SCSDC recently had the opportunity to engage with two local artists, Dayz Whun, who lives and owns a business in St. Clair Superior, and Starbeing (Isaiah Williams) to create two neighborhood murals. Both Dayz and Starbeing completed the murals on the shipping containers located at St. Clair Plaza at E. 64th and St. Clair (pictured above). Dayz continued on to complete the mural located at Angela's Family Restaurant at E. 72nd and St. Clair (pictured below).

Have you visited St. Clair Superior recently? Take a stroll through the neighborhood soon, stop by a few restaurants and check out an upcoming event. Make sure to stop by the locations listed above to check out the new neighborhood murals!

This month's video features Maria Campanelli, C-X, and their project at the Children's Museum of Cleveland. Watch here!