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.
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