Bert Corona Leadership Institute

Established in 2001, the Bert Corona Leadership Institute (BCLI) has over 12 years of experience developing and implementing technical assistance and capacity building programs in civic, leadership, and work skills development, primarily for marginalized youth in the Americas. Today, BCLI programs have been designed to maintain its earlier empowerment aim, but has expanded its focus to marginalized youth in the U.S. and rest of the Americas, created specific leadership development activities, strengthened its activities which support student advancement coupling civics, work skills.

BCLI’s programs are unique in several respects. First, they focus on some of the most economically marginalized and educationally disadvantaged young people in the Americas. By participating in these programs, students who might otherwise have lost interest in completing high school or in pursuing higher education often are motivated to do so. These youth return transformed to their home communities, as knowledgeable, experienced, confident, and commitment future leaders. The programs also provide the participants the opportunity to develop their own individual and group agendas and present them to elected and non-elected leaders and decision-makers. Lastly, by including works skills development as a component of its programs, these students’ work skills are improved so that they can become and remain productive members of the workforce, ultimately helping their communities.