By Stephen Alexander, Exponent Philanthropy

It’s all about the people.

At Exponent Philanthropy, we believe your people—staff and trustees—are among your philanthropy’s greatest assets. Last summer, I wrote about 8 networks and programs investing in leadership development, particularly for young, social-minded professionals and philanthropists. This summer, I’m back with eight more.

With time, I’ve come to realize the importance of investing in leaders at all levels. After all, who is the driving force behind change? The people. It’s not a surprise that several funders within the ranks of Exponent Philanthropy’s membership also believe in this notion and fund accordingly: Siragusa Foundation, The Miles Foundation, the Robertson Foundation for Government, the Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, the Community Memorial Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation to name a few.[i]

Yet, argues Rusty Stahl of Talent Philanthropy Project, there’s an egregious deficit of investment in leaders in the social sector. And Rusty’s not alone. As NCRP reported earlier this year, from 2003–2012, just 0.8 percent of total grants and 0.9 percent of total dollars granted from the largest 1,000 foundations went to nonprofit leadership development.

What’s more, there’s a stark divide in leadership development investment between the for-profit and nonprofit sectors: “for-profit businesses routinely invest $129 per employee for leadership development every year, while the civic sector invests only $29 per employee.” Fortunately, this is something we can change with time, and many throughout the field are already hard at work highlighting the value of investing in people.

On to the list: Eight more organizations working hard to develop social sector leaders. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list; see the “Leadership” section of American Express’s 2014 grant list for even more.

1. +Acumen provides emerging leaders around the world with the skills and moral imagination to become more effective at changing the way the world tackles poverty. They offer a combination of free online and offline coursework and in-person programming and connecting opportunities through 24 volunteer-led chapters around the globe.

2. American Express Corporate Social Responsibility has leadership as one of three core program areas, and it created two initiatives—American Express Leadership Academy and Emerging Innovators Boot Camp—and invested in 100+ nonprofits working on leadership development. 

3. Ashoka supports social entrepreneurs who are leading and collaborating with changemakers. They do this by supporting social entrepreneurs through the global Ashoka Fellows program, promoting group entrepreneurship, and building infrastructure for the sector.

4. Center for Creative Leadership takes a straightforward approach: “We help individuals transform their interpersonal skills and better lead others. We help teams drive organizational success and sustained performance. We help communities thrive, enable lives and advance futures.” They develop knowledge, tools, and resources for the field and offer a plethora of engagement options from individual coaching to custom solutions for organizations.

5. Echoing Green’s mission is to unleash next generation talent to solve the world’s biggest problems. It offers four programs:
   • Fellowships offer seed-stage funding and support to emerging leaders working to bring about positive social change.
   • The Work on Purpose curriculum and training uses life and work lessons from fellows to support young people seeking to make the world a better place.
   • The Impact Investing program provides recoverable grants to global fellows with for-profit business models.
   • Direct Impact prepares leaders for nonprofit board service.

6. Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy (Allowance For Good) is a 7-week Chicago-based program designed for youth ages 13–18. It “equips students with the skills to lead change-based projects in their communities.” Participants work individually or in groups to mobilize philanthropic projects in their community. 

7. Public Allies represents a national movement grounded in the conviction that everyone leads. It strives to advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits, and civic participation. Its AmeriCorps Ally Program prepares young adults for leadership through paid full-time nonprofit apprenticeships and rigorous training, and alumni trainings keep the network of diverse leaders connected and engaged.

8. Rockwood Leadership Institute offers a number of leadership trainings designed for social change leaders. Trainings are organized around six core practices: purpose, vision, partnership, resilience, performance, and personal ecology.

The need for intelligent, pragmatic, inspiring, grounded, and fierce leaders—particularly in the social sector—is a narrative that’s here to stay for some time. How might we make leadership resources more inclusive and accessible? How might funders work with grantees to cultivate leaders from their ranks—those already committed to the cause?

[i] We could debate whether funds invested in education, youth development, or other fields do or do not help to build social sector leaders; that’s not a debate we’ll take up today.

Program Manager Stephen Alexander designs sessions for our educational programs and coordinates content production with the goal of delivering the best service possible to the Exponent Philanthropy community. Before coming to Exponent Philanthropy, Stephen worked with Thomson Reuters, Jones Lang LaSalle, and two small nonprofits in Washington, DC. Stephen currently serves on the board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network’s DC chapter. Follow Stephen on Twitter @salxndr and Exponent Philanthropy @exponentphil.