The Neighborhood Leadership Institute, a partnership between the City of Chattanooga, Department of Neighborhood Services and Community Development, and Chattanooga State Technical Community College, is designed as a premiere training course for community members being groomed to step into leadership positions in local neighborhood groups. The department recognizes the need for skills training to effectively equip leaders to organize their neighborhoods, and also the diminishing pool of current leaders. To address this need, the department organizes the Neighborhood Leadership Institute on an annual basis. Applications are taken in early spring and go through a selection process. Once participants are chosen, they attend a series of class sessions with the program culminating at the annual Neighborhoods Conference in the fall.

Current Classes Offered:
Session 1: Effective Meetings
Session 2: Conflict Resolution/Dealing with Difficult People
Session 3: Strategic Planning
Session 4: Cultivating and Managing Cultural Diversity in Neighborhoods
Session 5: Final Project/Review of Past NLI Final Projects
Session 6: Neighborhood Building Blocks
Session 7: Basic City Services for Neighborhoods

Neighborhood Leadership Institute Selection Criteria
• Restricted to residents of the City of Chattanooga
• Be an active member of a neighborhood association or community organization, or in the process of starting a new group inside the city limits of Chattanooga
• Be committed to being a leader in their neighborhood and the overall community
• Commit to attend 6 of 7 sessions to complete the course
• Commit to complete a final project and present that project at the annual Neighborhoods Conference in the fall

• Those interested submit an application and 2 letters of recommendation to be reviewed by an independent selection committee

Upon successful completion of the Neighborhood Leadership Institute, including meeting attendance requirements and completing the final project, participants will receive a joint certificate from the City of Chattanooga, the Department of Neighborhood Services and Community Development, and Chattanooga State Technical and Community College.