I reflect daily on the growth that I have gained from DVULI. If it wasn't for this program, I don't know where I would be in ministry or if I would still be in ministry. I am grateful for the seeds that were sown, the time invested, and the relationships formed. Thanks to the instructors, staff, and the entire DVULI family for shaping who I am today. - Washington, D.C. Graduate
The DVULI Investment
The DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative is an intensive 15-month faith-based leadership development program for urban youth workers.
Each year, approximately 60 urban youth workers from five select U.S. cities are accepted.
The DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative exists to come alongside these leaders and support them with professional level leadership training. It’s a practical, hands-on experience they need to make a difference.
Here’s how it works:
- First, participants are carefully selected to engage in a 15-month training. They proceed through a series of courses to gain practical skills in key leadership areas that have been curated for over 20 years.
- Next, each participant becomes a member of a close-knit cohort, a group of like-minded leaders from across their city.
- Finally, program participants develop essential relationships that will benefit them for years into the future. The program is designed to be a lasting community that supports and nourishes their journey for the long-term.
Our leaders arrive with an exceptionally high level of passion and energy. We work alongside them so they are equipped with the skills, experience and resources to match their passion. They graduate renewed, and fully prepared to go and impact their communities.
Core Values Training
These values might not even be on the radars of some of our participants when they come to DVULI. But, when they are encouraged to look at the core values intensely and to examine the relevance of accountability, balance, interdependence, empowerment and leverage in their lives and ministries, it helps them to see things from a whole new perspective.
As our skilled trainers take deep dives into each core value, participants begin to see the bigger picture of how the values work cohesively together to support a strong, healthy and vibrant ministry leader. They reexamine their leadership approaches. They begin to envision new ministry structures that they never even knew were possible. And, they come out on the other side reenergized and better equipped to lead and grow ministries built for sustained vitality and success.
Accountability
Effective leaders regularly seek feedback and guidance from trusted sources.
Balance
Effective leaders understand the importance of living a balanced life, concerned with the development of the whole person.
Interdependence
Effective leaders are effective collaborators, aware of the rich resources present in their organizations and communities.
Empowerment
Effective leaders recognize the importance of bringing out the best in others.
Leverage
Effective leaders know how to use the positive potential of change, knowing that seemingly small actions can have significant impact.
Breakthrough Skills Training
Once our participants have developed a vision of a healthy personal and ministerial approach founded upon five core values then, what we at DVULI call Breakthrough Skills come into play. These skills fit hand in glove with the core values, and they become the rungs of the ladder leading to an entirely new leadership model.
The Breakthrough Skills are designed to expand the way our participants think about key aspects of leadership such as resources, planning, and change. They include skills such as systems thinking, preparing for possible future scenarios, and the development of youth as effective leaders in a ministry.
Learning these crucial skills helps our participants begin to take small but meaningful steps toward real change. Eventually, that change leads to transformation. And, it all starts with a breakthrough.
To experience sustained success, urban youth workers need a healthy framework to build their ministries. To help provide our participants with this structure, we have shaped our curriculum around the five core values: accountability, balance, interdependence, empowerment and leverage.
Certification
The DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative makes available undergraduate or graduate level credit* for participants interested in acquiring semester hours or certification. DVULI launched this opportunity to enhance participant academic profiles and to address the growing demand for higher education credentials among the youth worker profession.
DVULI partners with Cornerstone University to afford this opportunity. 9 semester credit hours are offered at both undergraduate & graduate levels.
*Alumni are not eligible for retroactive credit.
Investment by the Numbers
- 96 % Set aside time to reflect on their personal growth as a leader at least once or twice a month
- 65 % Regularly revisit their ministry plans for improvement (at least once a month)
- 81 % Feel they were doing well maintaining a healthy balance of time between ministry, family, and self
Testimonial
Manessa Medina Albuquerque 2015DVULI has been beneficial to my life and has helped me grow so much in ways I was never going to on my own.
Ray Maldonado Chicago 2007DVULI had a significant impact on me because it was during a time in my life that I’d been wrestling with the future and what the Lord was calling me to do. The Initiative helped me by understanding the core values that were taught, but more importantly, DVULI introduced me to people who had something to say that spoke to me about different issues in my life.
Cheryl Cuthbertson Seattle-Tacoma 2011Over the past nine years, I have used DVULI principles in leading my own teams and sharing the breakthrough skills with international youth leaders in the U.S., Africa, and the Caribbean. Replicating the training has had a significant impact on raising up other leaders who are responsible for youth development.
Melissa Collins Atlanta 2008That marker in my life is so monumental. I always say that DVULI literally changed the course of my life and has led me to where I am.
