Coro Pittsburgh is taking nominations for the 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards until December 5. The MLK Awards recognize values-based leaders who have accomplished significant results for the benefit of the community. If you are thinking of nominating but not sure how to evaluate your candidate, spend three minutes and read this post. I sketch an example of a values-based leader, Natalia Rudiak, to illustrate specifically why she was selected for a distinguished alumni leadership award in 2012.
Leaders are catalysts. They create opportunities for others to step forward and contribute to a change process. Values-based leaders catalyze others towards a larger societal cause. Martin Luther King Jr. was a values based leader. He was a catalyst for the civil rights movement. Through his community organizing he created a context for thousands of Americans to participate in changing laws, policies and practices that reinforced racial segregation and oppression.
Natalia Rudiak is a leader. In her role as Pittsburgh City Councilwoman, she has been a catalyst for successful community projects like renovating a multi-generational community center in Beechview, rebuilding a badly decayed Brookline Blvd, upgrading public spaces along Brownsville Rd, and redesigning a “dairy district” section of Carrick. Natalia has held public meetings to engage the community, written grant proposals to engage potential investors, and worked closely with officials to engage government resources in line with the goals of these projects.
Natalia’s leadership is values based. She mobilizes others in the service of larger societal causes such as increasing high quality affordable housing for seniors, improving safety for drivers and pedestrians, creating jobs, and expanding access to outdoor play spaces for children. Because of Natalia’s leadership, other citizens have become involved and are making change happen faster in their own communities.
Help us identify people like Natalia who engage others in realizing a positive vision for their community. We want to honor these leaders because without them our communities would be slower and less successful at adapting to an increasingly complex and fast changing world.
