Leading with Conviction™

LEADING WITH CONVICTION™

Leading with Conviction™ (LwC) is a FREE, cohort-based, 12-month opportunity for leaders from around the country. LwC takes place both in-person and virtually. Components of LwC include four weekend-long forums, six networking webinars, executive coaching, peer coaching, and regular communication.

LwC trainings benefit leaders by introducing them to the people and practices closely linked to successful community and regional criminal justice advocacy efforts, enabling them to take on greater challenges and to generate quantifiable impact in their work.

Leading with Conviction™ 2025 nominations open in Spring!

For more info, please contact leadership@jlusa.org.

The Leading with Conviction program includes the following elements:

Grounded in the Leadership Challenge® curriculum, leaders will develop and sharpen their leadership skills based on their 360 degree assessment and learn tools to practice leadership.

The training covers five “Practices of Exemplary Leadership”:

  1. Model the Way
  2. Inspire a Shared Vision
  3. Challenge the Process
  4. Enable Others to Act
  5. Encourage the Heart

Paired with a coach to analyze and understand pre- and post-360 degree assessments, leaders will create a one-year work plan outlining learning goals throughout the program.  

Acknowledging the need for individual skills and development and understanding oneself, leaders are encouraged to take time for themselves. Leaders will be provided with training on trauma and will be able to practice mindfulness and to implement strategies for selfcare. Our leaders have powerful stories, and it is imperative that their stories are given the platform they deserve. They will be provided with elements of effective storytelling and given opportunities to practice storytelling with their peers.

Building community is vital to ensuring that a team shares the same vision, and team members must be able to rely upon one another. Within their own organizations, leaders will identify skills each person brings to the process of achieving a common goal. Ensuring equity must permeate everything a leader does, and the training emphasizes the importance of not marginalizing anyone. Leaders will be able to identify structural and organizational barriers to equity and will develop tools and strategies to minimize inequalities in all that they do. Board development and conflict management will also be covered. 

Policy advocacy relies on both storytelling and inspiring a vision in the listener. And building a coalition is not the same as building a team. Knowing your coalition partner’s values, communication style, and stories are prerequisites for creating solid campaigns organized around shared strategic goals.  External development will cover fundraising, grant writing, and communication skills with both traditional and social media. 

Already a Leader? Get Engaged.

Our JLUSA ENGAGE platform is for JLUSA leaders, members, and alumni to receive exclusive access to learning materials via online courses, as well as other relevant and critical information, to further JLUSA’s long-term mission goals.