Telos Leadership Foundation Focuses On Development of Diverse, Young Leaders

Here are the topics we will be discussing with our guests on The Sound of Ideas today.

Solving Cleveland's problems and moving the city and the region forward, experts say, will take a diversity of ideas and leadership.  Government is only part of the equation. Nonprofit organizations also play a role in leading and shaping the city and region especially on social justice issues.

But, getting a diversity of people into the boardroom or to the very top of the decision-making ladder can be difficult.  The makeup of the boardroom does not usually reflect America's diversity. It tends to be disproportionately white, male and older.   

The Telos Institute, a Northeast Ohio based global firm focused on organizational development is focusing on diversifying leadership in Northeast Ohio by helping to prepare the leaders of tomorrow today.
 

To fulfill that goal, the institute's founders created the Telos Leadership Foundation. Recently 11 young professionals were named to board seats for the foundation.  In addition, 14 college students were named to the foundation's 2021 Emerging Leaders Fellowship.  The goal is to provide experiences that might not otherwise be available and to help develop emotionally and socially aware leaders for today and the future.

First up on the show, the coronavirus pandemic has been front and center as a public health emergency for well over a year now. But, the opioid epidemic that preceded it has not gone away.

Health officials are ramping up mitigation efforts to try and prevent 2021 from becoming a record-setting year for overdose deaths. To date at least 139 people have died this year in Cuyahoga County from heroin, fentanyl or a combination of drugs. If the current rate continues, there will be more opioid overdose deaths this year than in 2017, the highest year on record.

One of the mitigation efforts involves getting more doses of naloxone—the drug that reverses opioid overdoses--into the Zip codes that are seeing the worst rates of overdose.

 Later in the program, Ohio Congressman Anthony Gonzalez is facing a call for his resignation after the Ohio Republican Party's state central committee held a censure vote on him last week.

At issue was Congressman Gonzalez's vote to impeach former President Donald Trump in connection with the Capitol riot on January 6.

Lisa Ryan, Health Reporter, Ideastream 

Ron Soeder, Director, Telos Leadership Foundation 

Amy Washington, Executive Director, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, Telos Leadership Foundation Board 

Janella Blanchard, High School Career Coach, Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Telos Leadership Foundation Board 

Jayla VanHorn, Telos Leadership Foundation Emerging Leaders Fellowship 

Andy Chow, Reporter, Statehouse News Bureau, Ohio Public Radio/TV