For Keith Liederman, Ph.D., the CEO of Clover New Orleans, giving back to the community is a family tradition.
“When I think about where I initially got my inspiration to become a social worker, community organizer and activist for social change, I always feel like I was born into it. Literally!” he shared.
When Keith was born in Youngstown, Ohio, his father David Liederman was managing youth programs at a local community center while pursuing his master’s in social work at the University of Pittsburgh. After his father received his degree, the family moved back to Boston, where he was youth program director at the South End Settlement House in the early to mid-1960s, and Keith’s mom Toby took on civic leadership and volunteer roles in the community.
“It was against this backdrop that I spent my formative years watching how my parents worked tirelessly with others to make positive change happen on the programmatic and public policy fronts for children and families,” says Keith. “These experiences undoubtedly loomed large in helping shape and form my own personal and professional aspirations.
Keith joined Clover New Orleans, formerly Kingsley House, in 1994, starting as the program director, then becoming associate director for administration before being named CEO in 2003.
“This historic agency has been at the forefront of transformative change in our city, state and nation since its founding in 1896,” says Keith. “Having the opportunity to witness first hand our life-changing impact has been the most rewarding experience of my professional life.”
Clover New Orleans’ mission is to “to educate children, strengthen families and build community,” says its website. The organization is nationally recognized model for its Whole Family Approach, serving more than 8,000 individuals a year through early childhood education, workforce development, adult day care for seniors and medically fragile adults, and neighborhood engagement programs that connect residents to essential resources.
“Giving back is not just important, it is an imperative. When we all work together anything is possible. Anything!” adds Keith.
Clover New Orleans’ Senior Director of Marketing and Advancement Operations Sabrina Written, MBA, notes Keith’s “vision, humility and unshakeable belief in the power of people.”
Keith’s care extends beyond Clover New Orleans, serving on the board of the Child Welfare League of America and as a respected national voice for equity in early learning and family support, Written shared. This year, as federal threats to programs like Medicaid, Medicare and Head Start emerged, Keith stood at the forefront — helping to mobilize coalitions of parents, family care providers and community partners; contacting legislators; and authoring statements and published op-eds urging Congress to protect critical funding for Louisiana’s most vulnerable residents.
“His willingness to confront difficult issues with humility, while guiding others to learn and grow defines his activism,” says Written.
And while Keith has been working for nonprofits or community health for almost all of his career, he still feels there is much to learn.
“As a white person in America, I carry what Peggy McIntosh calls an ‘invisible knapsack’ of privilege. I receive daily benefits others don’t, and it’s essential that white people examine the assumptions that give us these unearned advantages,” Keith says.
“For many years, I’ve engaged in honest, often difficult conversations about race, privilege, and the inequities built into the fabric of our country. These dialogues can be challenging, but we stay present, listen deeply, and speak truth even when it’s uncomfortable,” Keith says.
He added that, “These exchanges have revealed unconscious biases and slowly cleared the ‘white lens’ through which I view the world. My vision isn’t perfect and never will be, but this ongoing dialogue helps me make more informed and thoughtful decisions as a leader, colleague, citizen and human being.”
True Confession
There really hasn’t been a day in the 32 years I have been at Clover that I haven’t looked forward to being here. The opportunity to work with extraordinary people and see the impact we have provides constant incentive to pour my heart and soul into our work. But, most people don’t know how much making my work at Clover and with other partner agencies and people my #1 priority has so often placed my wife Luanne and daughter Camille at a distant second. This is especially regrettable because they have made so many sacrifices along the way to help me, and Clover, succeed. As I now enter into the sunset of my career, I hope I can help influence other leaders to always put their own families first. There is nothing more important than that!
Clover New Orleans: clovernola.org
