Small Interventions for Large Problems: Reshaping Urban Leadership Networks

Abstract

This article reports a longitudinal study of the Urban Leadership Program, which sought to reshape community leadership networks in a large metropolitan area Program classes of approximately50 persons each replicated in microcosm the ethnic, gender, and occupational diversity of the area's leaders. Data were collected when the program began and ended and three years after it began, using questionnaires and interviews. The authors found that program participation resulted in increased contacts among participants, which persisted for the first class only; that contacts with whites increased, but not with blacks; and that new networks emerged or old ones were strengthened for addressing community issues. Factors underlying leadership networks included contacts with black leaders, the social establishment, political leaders, business leaders, and community activists. The implications of the study for using microcosm interventions to influence larger systems are discussed