News Center

March 6, 2015 — The Lake Effect Leaders VISTA Consortium will host a conference, “Agents of Change,” on March 27 and 28 at Gannon University in Erie. The conference will be of particular interest to individuals who work in nonprofits as well as long-term service professionals, such as Peace Corps alumni and members of AmeriCorps and Teach for America.

The conference is inspired by the history and evolution of the AmeriCorps VISTA program for children and youth in northwest Pennsylvania that has been facilitated by Allegheny College for the past 11 years. Service teams from the program’s 15 community sites in Erie and Crawford counties and participating institutions of higher education will showcase projects that have harnessed student leadership to bridge the gap between campus and community in order to battle poverty and advance social justice.

Among the projects that will be showcased are programs related to literacy, mentoring, food recovery, communication and design, home repair and more. The format for the conference includes general sessions, workshops that help develop the tools needed for strong campus-community partnerships, and design sessions that provide an opportunity to plan projects with the assistance of the conference team and its colleagues in northwest Pennsylvania.

Gregory Crowley will give the keynote presentation at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, March 27. Crowley is president and CEO of Coro Pittsburgh, a program for professional and community leadership development whose mission is to advance ethical and effective leaders who share a commitment to civic engagement.

The partners of the Lake Effect Leaders program are Allegheny College, Gannon University, Mercyhurst University and the Nonprofit Partnership. The cost to attend the two-day conference is $35 per participant, which includes dinner on March 27 and breakfast and lunch on March 28. Registration is due by March 20. To register or for more information, visit www.lakeeffectleaders.org.