Approximately 50 professionals participate on the Leadership Panels in each YLP – including over 10 members of CSL’s Executive Advisory Board. Over 75% of the professionals (and 95% of the youth served) are African-American and Latino. Here’s how the panels work: It’s not the traditional lecture/’talking heads’ model but a circular discussion that includes the youth. 5 panelists per session share their successes, challenges and ideas for no more than a few minutes at a time (we ‘Share the Stage’ between panelists and the youth participants), and are supported by CSL instructors facilitating the leadership sessions.

CSL typically shares a leadership principle (e.g. ‘Make Peace With Disapproval’, ‘See Others as They Are, Not as You Are’, ‘Don’t Tie Your Self-Confidence to Your Performance’, ‘Lead 365 Days a Year, Not One Day 365 Times’) and then asks if one of the panelists would like to share an example of how they’ve practiced it in their career. CSL encourages the panelists to share their challenges – which makes them more human and enables the youth to relate to them much more (e.g. “I wouldn’t have imagined that someone who has achieved so much also had issues with self-esteem, dealing with disapproval or taking risks in their career.”) as much as their successes.

Our 50 professional panelists hold leadership roles in business, government and the non-profit sectors. Some of the represented organizations and companies are:

Panel Questions for Current Panelists

If you are a panelists in the upcoming Young Leaders Program, please come prepared to discuss the following questions for your specific panel: Panel Questions---YLP