This episode continues our podcast series focused on impacting community change through grassroots community leadership. In this series, we are shining the spotlight on local everyday community leaders. Each of the leaders we will talk to are graduates of the innovative Neighborhood Leadership Development Program in Cleveland. Today we will be talking with three community leaders whose passion is helping youth and families to thrive: Letitia Lopez, Dennis Knowles, and Tonya Perkins Stoudemire.
Letitia Lopez is now the Executive Director of the Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center which is dedicated to transforming lives by preserving, educating and promoting Latino heritage through the teaching and practice of the visual, performing and literary arts. Dennis Knowles founded The Fishing Foundation in 2010 which aims to enrich youth’s lives through fishing by offering training and education on casting, water safety and conservation in a safe and secure environment with nurturing adults. Tonya Perkins Stoudemire founded Bessie’s Place in 2012, a facility that provides affordable housing for young women aging out of foster care and offers them a safe haven and life skills for leadership and career development.
