Meet Our Leadership Consultant and New Council Person for the City of Englewood – Lynne H. Algrant

(L-R) Pastor Rae Brown, LEADS Class '09, with Lynne Algrant, Bergen LEADS Leadership Consultant, at the 2009 Alumni of Bergen LEADS holiday party.

At Bergen LEADS, we have a great team of experienced people that offers our candidates a wide range of knowledge about County issues and leadership skills. It is critically important that, during the seminar year, members of the class gain an understanding of what makes Bergen County unique, and what they can do to improve our community as LEADers.

Lynne Algrant has been part of the Bergen LEADS Advisory Panel since its inception in 2007. She has an extensive background in leadership consulting and development, which gives her the ability to offer hands-on experience to Bergen LEADS participants. She is the founder of H 10 A Consulting, an organization focusing on leadership and effectiveness. Lynne works extensively with the Association of Black Foundation Executives, and directed the Coro Leadership Program at the Cleveland Foundation. Through Bergen LEADS, she has been able to give back to the local community and help enhance the leadership skills of the candidates in each class. Her most recent personal accomplishment was running for and winning the position of Council person for the city of Englewood.

Before moving to Englewood, Lynne lived in New York City for 15 years. Because of its size, it was difficult to understand how the city is run and how everything is interconnected. She says, “once I got a glimpse of the inner workings of a city, I was looking for a place that had the complexity in a manageable size. Englewood is that city.” She takes great pride in living in a city like Englewood because of the diversity. The wide variety of cultures within the community makes Englewood a good place to be different.

Moving to a new city can often be difficult but, for Lynne, Bergen LEADS was the connection she needed to meet the right people. She acknowledges, “because of my involvement in Bergen LEADS, I not only have a solid understanding of the issues, challenges and opportunities in the County, I also have a network of people I can reach out to for advice, ideas and support.” Bergen LEADS has also given her the credibility to talk to voters about why she decided to run for City Council.

Through Bergen LEADS, Lynne is able to rely on information given to her in order to make necessary decisions regarding issues in her community. She understands that she is “better informed on the complexity of the issues…” than she would be if she wasn’t involved with Bergen LEADS. For example, Englewood has formed a Green Team that works on sustainability issues within the community. The Green Team is expanding the recycling program and launching energy audits for buildings. She feels that “how things get done, and how people feel about what gets done is as important - maybe even more important - than what gets done.”

For anyone interested in helping Bergen County and solving challenges it may face, Bergen LEADS is a good way to start. According to Lynne, “…you will find your passion there and you definitely will build your desk reference.”