Field Reports
Restoring the Balance of Power: Cultivating Leaders with Lived Experiences in Poverty to Create Lasting Social Change in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Chesterfield Polkey,
Emerson Fellow
Published 2019
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Restoring the Balance of Power identifies best practices among leadership development programs and assesses the capacity of grassroots organization Just Harvest to develop a leadership development and training program. By coupling analysis of Just Harvest’s organizing past with an evaluation of leadership capacity-building programs around the country, this report suggests a new framework for integrating community members with lived experiences of poverty into the larger struggle against inequality.
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Born and raised in Jacksonville, FL, Chesterfield graduated with honors from Macalester College with a degree in sociology and minors in political science, statistics, and French. Through the community service-oriented Bonner Scholars Program, he interned at Neighborhood House, a local social service agency. There, Chesterfield organized multiple lobbying days on the hill, conducted multiple presentations on political advocacy, and wrote a guidebook on public policy. He also assisted and interacted with participants in the agency’s food pantry. Chesterfield remains committed to public service having participated in the City of Minneapolis’ Urban Scholars program, worked in the government affairs department at the Metropolitan Council, and interned at the National Ministry of Education in Fatick, Senegal.
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