Phase one: How programs change people
CLC programs differ in length, audience, and format, but they are all designed to achieve the same four outcomes.
Each outcome is evaluated through a set of specific indicators which participants rate themselves against at the end of each program.
Through a retrospective pre-test at the close of every program, participants rate themselves on where they stand now, and where they stood before they began. The method corrects for a known flaw in conventional pre-tests: people routinely overestimate what they knew at the outset, because at the start, they do not yet know what they do not know.
The charts within each accordion below indicate the percentage of participants (across all programs for the 2026 program year) who agreed or strongly agreed with specific outcome-related indicators before the program and after the program.
- Civic Understanding
Percentage of participants across all programs who report understanding the civic landscape and are able to use their knowledge to build a better Cleveland.
“My eyes were opened to the complexities of community issues and got me to think really hard about how my passions can be inserted for change.”
Cleveland Bridge Builders 2025 graduate - Relationship Building
Percentage of participants across all programs who report building meaningful relationships and regularly engaging with people from a variety of backgrounds.
“Making relationships along your journey is one of the best things you can do, more connections equals more help and opportunities.”
Look Up to Cleveland 2025 graduate - Collaborative Leadership
Percentage of participants across all programs who report understanding their individual leadership capacity and can deploy their strengths to collaborate with community stakeholders to effect positive change.
“It helped me realize that leadership and impact aren’t confined to one lane—leaders from all areas want to see the community thrive, and they are open to collaboration across boundaries.”
Civic Leadership Institute 2025 graduate - Civic Readiness
Percentage of participants across all programs who report feeling confident to take action in the community to build a better Cleveland.
“I want to activate our collective desire to make Cleveland even better than it already is by driving big dreams and bold plans.”
Leadership Cleveland 2025 graduate
You can see individual program outcomes on each program page:
Leadership Cleveland | Cleveland Bridge Builders | OnBoard Cleveland | Look Up To Cleveland | Advanced Leadership Institute | Civic Leadership Institute
Phase two: How alumni change our community
Every three years, CLC investigates the long-term learning and behavior that follows a program. Alumni are asked about their leadership skills and beliefs and about their current involvement in their organizations and their communities.
The survey is built around the same four outcomes that anchor CLC’s program evaluation, so results can map the long-term impact of programming on participants’ behaviors and beliefs.
The 2025 Alumni Impact Survey drew 813 responses spanning all programs and program years 1978 through 2024. See the results in the video below:
See the full Alumni Impact Survey Summary.
Phase three: How CLC evolves
Alumni scored high on civic understanding and on collaboration, and measurably lower on confidence to act when an effort carries real risk of failure. Roughly one in four said there needs to be more visionary, collaborative leadership in Northeast Ohio. Across hundreds of open responses, alumni asked for the same thing: stronger connection to CLC and to each other after a program ends.
Those three findings are shaping current curriculum work, and they are the foundation Vision 2035: CLC’s 10-year strategic vision.
Have questions about CLC’s evaluation design, methodology, or data? Contact Rachel Ciomcia at (216) 592-2280.