FIVE-YEAR INITIATIVE AT CENTER ON PHILANTHROPY AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY TO FOCUS ON PEOPLE OF COLOR, WOMEN AND YOUTH

$3 Million W.K. Kellogg Foundation Grant to Support Understanding, Expansion of Philanthropy Leadership

INDIANAPOLIS -Expanding and better understanding philanthropy leadership among people of color, women and youth is the focus of a new initiative at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

A program funded by a five-year, $3 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the initiative seeks to identify and mentor youth leaders and equip existing and emerging leaders with the knowledge and tools necessary to assume leadership positions in the philanthropic sector. The Center on Philanthropy also will intentionally seek to learn about leadership in the three groups and understand the challenges and issues they face.

"As the philanthropic sector continues to grow, it needs knowledgeable executive-level leaders from a variety of backgrounds who understand the issues and trends affecting nonprofits," said Eugene R. Tempel, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. "This new initiative not only will identify and inform these new leaders, but also will help us understand how these groups have risen to leadership positions in the sector."

The new Initiative is led by Associate Director Larry Smith, who previously served as deputy director of civil society programs at the Hudson Institute. Smith received his bachelor's from Williams College and a master's degree from Stanford Business School. He will work with Sheryl Forte, who previously worked at the United Way of Central Indiana as a program coordinator and campaign associate. She received a bachelor's from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Initiative staff will connect and support current leaders through conferences, peer networking, applied research and curricula and Web-based resources. The Center also will conduct research, including a series of case studies of leaders and their decisions to better understand their successes and failures and what they would do differently in the future.

"This is a great opportunity to lead an initiative that strives to increase the number of people of color and women in executive leadership roles in the nonprofit sector," Smith said. "Our goal is to support and learn from current leaders, as well as to mentor future ones who desire to build a meaningful career in philanthropy, thereby changing the face of philanthropic leadership in the future."

The new initiative will draw on the Center on Philanthropy's research expertise as well as its past and current involvement with the three target audiences. The Center is the current home to the Women's Philanthropy Institute and has held symposia in recent years on topics related to these groups, including youth and philanthropy and black philanthropy. It also will benefit from the Center's relationship with the Randall L. Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence and the Lake Family Institute on Faith and Giving.

Smith said he also will seek to build partnerships with groups already working in this area. Anyone interested in partnering on the project is encouraged to contact Smith at larrsmit@iupui.edu or at (317) 274-4200.

The Center on Philanthropy is a leading academic center dedicated to increasing the understanding of philanthropy and improving its practice through programs in research, teaching, public service and public affairs.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." Its programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.

To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership; information and communication technology; capitalizing on diversity; and social and economic community development. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.