Episode 23: Grassroots Leadership Series Episode 2: Cultivating Community Connections

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 cultivating connections and partnerships among community members: Bridgette Smith-Jackson, Diana Sette and Josh Jones Forbes. 

Bridgette Smith-Jackson has spent much of her career at Vesta Corporation developing resident services for the families of Rainbow Terrace Apartments and the neighboring community. She is committed to working with families to address challenges and eliminate barriers by fostering community partnerships and developing non-traditional collaborations with existing organizations. Diana Sette has extensive experience in social and environmental justice work, from working with a radical political puppet troupe and numerous direct action projects focused on supporting communities, especially youth, and climate justice. She co-founded the Possibilitarian Garden, a community garden that has served as a resource incorporating educational workshops, art and culture events, ecological agriculture, and anti-racist activism. Josh Jones Forbes works as Director of Communications at Northwest Neighborhoods CDC, the nonprofit provider of affordable housing and community development services for Cleveland's Cudell, Detroit Shoreway, and Edgewater communities. Josh is also passionate about LGBTQ+ activism, racial justice, public transit, environmental sustainability, arts, and personal wellness, and he is the founder of a community-based fitness studio.

Bridgette’s full bio

Diana’s full bio

Josh’s full bio

Neighborhood Leadership Development Program

The National Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities