We create the space necessary for leaders to dive deep into inquiry about the structures of inequities that persist in the social sector, envision preferred futures for our organizations and communities, and the leadership essential to transforming systems of oppression. When participants graduate the program, they:

• Appreciate how leading from love fuels brave action

• Understand how power-sharing emboldens collective action for greater social impact

• Determine how to advance an equity and social justice agenda from an analysis of the structures that hinder their work

• Deepen their sense of renewal and well-being.

• Multi-day retreats to build and strengthen community trust

• Monthly, full-day Leaders Circles, offering time for reflection, peer learning, and dialogue

• Executive coaching to progress personal leadership goals with one-on-one support

• Culminating celebrations and invitation to the alumni network for continued peer learning and networking

The on-the-job Fellowship is competitively awarded to women of color, social justice change agents in leadership positions within social sector organizations. 

Leadership includes positions of decision-making authority and/or on decision-making leadership teams that impact organization and program policy, and direction. 

We fundraise to ensure that we can provide a healing and nourishing experience to participants without the barrier of a tuition or program cost. We rely on the partnership of individual donors, foundations, and businesses to provide this holistic experience.

The Women of Color (WOC) LeadStrong program, launched in January 2019, confronted years of unmet needs, unsustainable practices, and a call to challenge the systems of oppression inside and outside the nonprofit sector. Disrupted in 2020 during COVID-19, political turmoil, and racial tension, we launched the WOC Health and Well-being Survey to capture in real-time how our cohort members weathered these storms. It is also a direct response to the cumulative toll that limited resources, inadequate support, and continued social stressors have on the underrepresented and often neglected population of women of color leaders within the social sector. Stress, declining mental health, and burnout are all adverse health outcomes that served as the backdrop to this study. The pilot cohort demonstrated the importance of having a support system uniquely designed for the realities of our society that harm people of color, as well as equip them with the tools to dismantle these oppressive structures. Women of color’s well-being should be acknowledged and recognized as necessary for effective and sustainable change.

READ: "Women of Color LeadStrong Health and Well-being Survey Snapshot"