The Award
The Community Leadership Award is presented to an individual who, based on his/her activities, has made fundamental and lasting contributions to human rights and to the advancement of social, economic, and political justice for all people, serving as a model of high moral qualities or ideals, or greatness of character.
The Honoree
Erik M. Clemons is the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Center for Arts & Technology (ConnCAT), a nonprofit organization based on the model of Bill Strickland’s National Center for Arts and Technology. ConnCAT is dedicated to providing job-training programs to give unemployed and under-employed youth and adults the skills needed to secure well-paying jobs in the health sciences and culinary professions. Clemons has a gift for seeing people’s talents and potential and then working with them to accomplish things they did not think they were capable of doing. Through the spirit of resilience, Clemons said ConnCAT is not just about programs, “It’s also about people. It is where everyone has an opportunity to be great.” A lifelong Connecticut resident, Erik volunteers significant time and energy in supporting other organizations doing good work in the local community. He has devoted his career to empowering marginalized communities in New Haven and across the state of Connecticut and helping others see their own potential and power. Gateway and ConnCAT are working together to forge a partnership of a culinary arts and hospitality training program.Clemons — the founding director of the Connecticut Center for Arts & Technology — has devoted his career to empowering marginalized communities across the state of Connecticut and helping others see their own potential and power. He is now that organization’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
Prior to founding ConnCAT, Clemons served as the Connecticut Executive Director of the premier national youth development organization Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP), which provides innovative academic and social enrichment programs to youth ranging from the ages of five to 23. He has also served as Director of Vocational Training at the U.S. Department of Labor’s New Haven Job Corps Center.
A lifelong Connecticut resident, Erik volunteers significant time and energy in supporting other organizations doing good work in the local community. He currently serves on numerous boards including: Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, New Haven Housing Authority, New Haven Legal Aid and CT Voices for Children.
A proud father of four daughters who are New Haven Public School graduates, Clemons is co-President of the New Haven Citywide Parent Teacher Organization and a member of the New Haven Public School Education Reform Committee.