Julie Trott Selected to Leadership Cleveland Class of 2025

This article is originally from Crain’s Cleveland Business published July 11, 2024.

We are thrilled to announce that our very own Julie Trott has been named a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2025!

Leadership Cleveland has unveiled its class of 2025, including top leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Participants will engage in a 10-month program featuring intensive sessions, site visits, and retreats. This program aims to help leaders appreciate the rich diversity of Greater Cleveland, gain insights on challenges and opportunities, and strengthen and grow key relationships.

According to Cleveland Leadership Center President and CEO Marianne Crosley, the program is an immersive leadership experience that brings together leaders of different backgrounds and experiences and challenges them to grow. “Leadership Cleveland affords leaders new to Cleveland the opportunity to quickly connect with other leaders and understand the civic landscape in which they work,” Crosley said. “It also affords seasoned leaders the opportunity to forge new relationships and learn more about the community they serve. Building stronger leaders and stronger connections between leaders reaps huge benefits for our community.”

Crosley added that the relationships formed through the program allow leaders to build trust so they can work collaboratively to address issues and spearhead initiatives that lead to positive change for the city. Many initiatives in Cleveland can be traced back to partnerships and learning experiences gained in Leadership Cleveland.

“There is no other program that brings together leaders spanning the for-profit, non-profit and public sectors in an immersive learning experience,” Crosley noted.

Leadership Cleveland kicks off in September with an opening retreat. The program will include monthly daylong sessions, a mid-year retreat, and small-group meetings. The group will also travel to another city in May 2025 to gather lessons that can be applied to Cleveland.

Participants were chosen based on their demonstrated leadership and commitment to Cleveland, following a rigorous application process that included interviews with alumni of the program. Crosley mentioned that the competition was fierce for seats in this year’s class. “Many of our newest leaders in the community are in this year’s class and it is our most racially diverse.”

Following their graduation, the class of 2025 will join a network of more than 2,700 individuals who have completed Leadership Cleveland since the inaugural class in 1978.

We are incredibly proud of Julie and excited for the opportunities this program will bring!