ELA to honor CMSD CEO Eric Gordon at 10 Year Anniversary Event

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, OH, October 15, 2018 – In November, Effective Leadership Academy (ELA) will wrap up the year with a fundraiser to celebrate 10 years of helping young people develop themselves into leaders and to honor Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon. ELA’s 10 Year Anniversary Celebration will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 3 in the Conference Center at Benjamin Rose.

In addition to honoring Eric Gordon as our Executive Partner of the Year, the evening will take a look back at Effective Leadership Academy from 2008 to 2018. Notably, ELA has seen signifiant growth in the number of students impacted from when the non-profit started 10 years ago with a class of 37 to today having 20,000-plus student alumni across northeast Ohio and in the mid-Atlantic region.

Gordon’s vision for CMSD directly correlates with ELA’s mission to focus on the development and enhancement of critical 21st Century skills in young people. He is an exceptional community leader with transformational ideas to improve learning conditions in Cleveland schools. Gordon was instrumental in helping to pass The Cleveland Plan in 2012, which has received national recognition. He is actively involved in practitioner leadership with the Common Core State Standards through a partnership with the Gates Foundation, the Council of the Great City Schools, and the American Federation of Teachers. He maintains active involvement in practitioner leadership with Social and Emotional Learning standards through a partnership with the NoVo Foundation and the Center for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning.

“Eric Gordon has strived to bring a holistic approach to CMSD and ELA recognizes the importance and need for this type of initiative,” said ELA Founder and Executive Director Flo Brett. “We share the same mindset and mission when it comes to the students of Cleveland and helping them recognize the best in themselves and what they can achieve as leaders of this community.”

Over the past 10 years, ELA has provided leadership training for many CMSD schools with social and emotional learning at the core of the curriculum. Working with students in the Closing the Achievement Gap (CTAG) and School of One programs, ELA’s curriculum covers essential success skills on self-awareness, team dynamics, critical thinking, presentation skills, college and career readiness, and much more.

In August 2018, the Ohio Department of Education released “Each Child, Our Future,” the state’s five-year strategic plan for education. This plan is evidence that ELA is on the right path, showing leadership and social-emotional learning as key elements to a student’s success. Meeting the needs of the whole child is one of the top 10 priorities in the plan, a concept ELA has focused on achieving with every program it offers. Next steps for ELA in relation to this plan will be mentioned by Brett at the 10 Year Anniversary Celebration.

Sponsorships for the fundraiser are available at effectivela.org/ELA10. All proceeds, which will go towards ELA’s scholarship fund for students with financial need, are tax deductible as allowed by law.

MORE ABOUT EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

ELA is a youth leadership and personal growth organization that helps young people turn potential into performance by developing their most valuable assets - themselves. ELA promotes positive leadership by teaching students to think outside the box, have an open mind, and embrace change. ELA will also work with students on professional skills, such as making a good first impression, communicating effectively, learning how to network, along with other essential 21st Century leadership skills. effectivela.org

Media Contacts:

Effective Leadership Academy (ELA)

Faith Boone, Marketing Director faith@effectivela.org

216-292-8775