The Leadership 21 Initiative is an effort by the Bazelon Center to identify and engage the next generation of citizen-leaders to continue this important work to promote civil rights and human dignity for people with mental disabilities. The Center is developing a core committee of 12-15 of the most innovative and dynamic new leaders in the fields of mental disabilities, public policy and legal advocacy to support and inform our work.

Purpose of the Committee

The Leadership 21 Committee:

• Assists the Center in outreach efforts to young Americans concerned with mental disabilities and civil rights issues;

• Identifies new trends in the area of mental disabilities;

• Designs and develops innovative approaches to addressing community mental health needs and services for others with mental disabilities;

• Helps to inform the Center’s public policy and legal advocacy strategies; and

• Provides a networking venue for leading mental health, health policy, and disability and civil rights advocates.

Membership Criteria

Members of the Committee must pledge a strong commitment to the Bazelon Center’s mission, and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Have displayed innovation, activism or leadership in mental disabilities, health policy or civil rights advocacy; or

• Demonstrate the capacity to advance the Bazelon Center’s mission through other appropriate skills.

Projects

• The committee's first major project was development of Campus Mental Health: Know Your Rights!, a guide for students who want to seek help for mental illness or emotional distress.
  
  
• A new project beginning in mid-2009 is a collection of members' life stories -- how each has dealt with mental illness and what implications that has for public policy.