PARTNER STORY CASE STUDY
Making Room for Young Leaders
BACKGROUND
Through a partnership supported by Congregations With Community, Soma Downtown Church and Elevate Indianapolis created a Transformational Leadership program designed to help under-engaged high school students recognize their leadership potential, build meaningful relationships with mentors and gain access to new experiences.
GRANT OBJECTIVES
- Develop Emerging Student Leaders
- Create Consistent Mentoring Relationships
- Expand Access to New Experiences
- Deepen Congregation and Community Partnership
Creating Space for Young Leaders to Be
Seen
For young people, leadership does not always look like a perfect GPA, a packed extracurricular schedule or being the first person to raise a hand.
Sometimes, leadership potential is there long before a student has been given the opportunity, encouragement or relationships to recognize it in themselves.
That idea became the foundation of a partnership between Soma Downtown Church and Elevate Indianapolis, supported through a grant from Congregations With Community. Together, the two organizations created a deeper way to invest in Indianapolis students through Elevate’s Transformational Leadership (TL) program.
Soma and Elevate were not strangers before the grant. Both organizations had roots on Indianapolis’ Near East Side, and Soma had supported Elevate and other youth-serving organizations in the past. Elevate, an education and mentoring nonprofit serving predominantly Indianapolis Public Schools students, was already working with young people at nearby schools including Arsenal Technical High School and Purdue Polytechnic High School.
The CWC grant gave the two organizations an opportunity to turn that existing connection into a more intentional partnership.
Rather than beginning with a predetermined program and simply looking for volunteers, Soma and Elevate first considered where their values and goals aligned. For Soma, that meant building meaningful relationships with young people in its community. For Elevate, it meant supporting students holistically while creating new opportunities for them to recognize and develop their leadership potential.
From those conversations, Transformational Leadership took shape.
Looking for Leadership in Different Places
The Transformational Leadership program was intentionally designed to reach students whose potential might not always be recognized through traditional measures of achievement.
As Gisella explained, student leaders are often seen as “those 4.0 students, those students that are involved in everything.” She wanted TL to look different.
“I was in the schools recruiting students that may often be overlooked or may not have the best attendance, but students that I know had leadership skills within them. They just maybe needed some time, some support, and that extra love.”
Students from Arsenal Technical High School and Shortridge High School joined the first TL group, meeting monthly at Soma for workshops centered on leadership development. The program also included informal experiences throughout the city, from museum visits and conversations about personal goals to conferences and trips to Chicago.
Over the course of the program, more than 36 unique students participated in TL classes and received more than 750 hours of mentoring.
But the goal was never simply to fill workshops. It was to surround students with adults who consistently saw their potential and were willing to invest in it.
The goal was never simply to fill workshops. It was to surround students with adults who consistently saw their potential and were willing to invest in it.
More Than a Place to Meet
When Soma moved into and renovated an old Presbyterian church on the Near East Side, creating spaces that could serve young people was a priority. The church restored its gym and basement with the hope that organizations serving teens throughout Indianapolis would be able to use them.
Through TL, that physical space became one piece of a much deeper partnership.
“The core is we wanted to build relationships to not only Elevate but to the teenagers in our community,” Satchel shared.
Soma members regularly attended TL gatherings, brought games and activities, traveled with students and opened doors to experiences beyond the monthly workshops. One church member who teaches at Marian University invited students to campus events and helped them feel comfortable entering a college environment that was new to many of them. Other members welcomed students into their homes and spent time getting to know them outside the formal program.
Soma also hosted an “Elevate Sunday,” reshaping its regular gathering around the students. Several TL participants took part in a panel in front of hundreds of church members, sharing their experiences and accomplishments before the congregation celebrated them with lunch and time together.
For Gisella, the moment demonstrated just how much some of the students had grown.
“When they started in August, I would have never thought that they would be up there on stage in front of a bunch of adults they’ve never met, speaking as to their experience with TL.”
Students who once might not have felt comfortable speaking in front of a classroom were now willing to share their stories with an entire congregation.
Relationships That Changed Engagement
That growing confidence was accompanied by another meaningful shift.
The students in TL’s first group had not been particularly engaged with Elevate before joining the program. They were not necessarily the students staying after school or signing up for every opportunity.
Over time, that changed.
Students began showing up consistently, asking when the next TL activity would happen and when they would see the Soma members they had gotten to know. Some even began talking about taking on leadership roles themselves and potentially becoming ambassadors for TL.
For Satchel, seeing the depth of mentorship happening behind the scenes reinforced why those relationships mattered.
“I can’t imagine what it would have been like for me to be a high schooler and have an adult interested in me, to see something special in me and to invite me to their table.”
That sense of being seen became one of the most important outcomes of the partnership. TL created opportunities for students to develop leadership skills, but it also gave them a network of adults who were interested in who they were becoming.
IMPACT AT A GLANCE
0+
Unique students participated in Transformational Leadership classes.
100+
Mentoring hours provided through the TL program.
0
Indianapolis high schools represented in the first TL group: Arsenal Technical High School and Shortridge High School.
Through Transformational Leadership, Soma Downtown Church and Elevate Indianapolis created a space where students could build leadership skills, form consistent relationships with mentors and experience new opportunities. The partnership helped previously under-engaged students become active participants who began showing up, seeking out new experiences and seeing themselves as leaders.
Building Something That Outlasts the Grant
Although CWC funding provided resources to expand the work, Soma and Elevate never viewed the partnership as something that should end with the grant cycle.
Already, the connection has expanded beyond TL. A Soma member who became involved through the partnership now serves on Elevate’s board, creating another lasting connection between the organizations. Soma hopes supporting Elevate will continue to become part of the congregation’s culture.
Elevate is also looking ahead. Gisella hopes to continue introducing TL students to experiences outside what they already know, including travel and other opportunities that can broaden how they imagine their futures. Many of the students she works with have never left Indiana or traveled by plane.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” she explained. For Gisella, giving students the chance to see more of the world can help them begin imagining possibilities they may not have considered before.
For Soma, the long-term vision is even simpler: remain a place where these young people know they are welcome.
“If life gets hard, if life takes a wrong turn, or even if they want to give back to the community that they grew up in… we want to be a place to welcome them, a place to love on them and love on their families.”
The CWC grant helped Soma and Elevate create the structure, resources and opportunities to deepen a relationship that already had roots. What has grown from it is bigger than a leadership program: a community of adults committed to recognizing potential in young people, inviting them in and continuing to show up.
