FBI Recognizes LEAD San Diego with the Prestigious Director's Community Leadership Award

Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter is proud to recognize LEAD San Diego as the 2010 recipient of the prestigious Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA). Since 1990, the DCLA has been a principle means for the FBI to publicly recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations that make extraordinary contributions to crime and violence prevention and education in their communities. Each field office selects one individual or organization each year to receive this award. 

LEAD San Diego is the only organization in the San Diego region solely dedicated to providing issue-based programming, leadership skill building, and community volunteerism opportunities to a growing set of regional leaders who understand and can respond to the quality of life challenges facing the greater San Diego region. 

LEAD San Diego programs are designed to engage, develop, and mobilize diverse groups of emerging and current San Diego leaders, equipping them with an understanding of our region, the personal skills, and the right network of people to accomplish great things as civic and community leaders. LEAD San Diego is committed to developing emerging women, minorities, and those living in traditionally underserved areas of San Diego County so as to ensure our future leadership reflects the diversity of our region.

Leadership Action Teams (LATs) are the service learning component of the program.  LATs allow LEAD San Diego to directly affect positive change by developing class members to work in teams of eight to 10 on projects drawn from community-based nonprofit organizations that are serving a moderate to low-income or traditionally under-represented community. By harnessing the talents, energies, and resources of its class members, LEAD can make substantive, positive changes in agencies that are “on the ground” and impacting San Diego’s underserved communities in a meaningful way. 

Through the Leadership Action Team initiative and Graduate Task Force efforts, LEAD works to affect positive change in under-resourced communities. Often times, youth living in these communities are predisposed toward negative societal influences. Throughout the last seven years, LEAD Team efforts have addressed the needs of agencies that are invested in prevention-based strategies and after-school/mentoring programs to raise awareness and provide educational training. This endeavor helps present kids with a vision of how they can control their own futures, while keeping them off the streets and engaged in positive activities.

On Thursday, October 14, 2010, San Diego FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Bowdich presented the Director’s Community Leadership Award to LEAD San Diego. Accepting the award on behalf of LEAD San Diego is Mr. Ben Haddad, Chair, LEAD San Diego Board of Directors.