Connecting Leaders Fellowship
2013-2014 Connecting Leaders Fellowship Class
On-line Application Available Now
Deadline for submissions is May 20, 2013
We are pleased to formally announce the availability of the application for the ABFE Connecting Leaders Fellowship. Applications are on-line now at ABFE CONNECTING LEADERS. Click here to read the Application Instructions for full details.
Who is Eligible to Apply?
The Fellowship is open to anyone who fits the following profile:
- 2+ years of demonstrated experience as a grantmaker, trustee, or donor in organized philanthropy
- A deep-rooted commitment to assisting Black communities through philanthropy
- Ability to attend the ABFE Leadership Summit that will be held October 14-18, 2013 in Flint, MI. (Participation in the Summit is MANDATORY, and at no cost to the Fellows.)
- All Connecting Leaders Fellows must be members of ABFE, or they must join ABFE before the fellowship year begins.
Click here to apply online!
The ABFE Connecting Leaders Fellowship Program is a yearlong experience designed to sharpen the skills and strengthen the leadership capacity of foundation staff, donors, and trustees who are committed to assisting Black communities through philanthropy. Approximately ten fellows will have the opportunity to learn from seasoned grantmakers on a regular basis, understand how to be more effective change agents within their institutions, and participate in a network that focuses on innovative solutions to community challenges. Each fellow will be assigned a leadership coach and mentor as part of the program. In addition, each fellow will be required to develop a plan to work with an organization that is serving Black communities in his or her home environment and to engage in a specific project during the fellowship period to help this organization develop its capacity.
The ABFE Connecting Leaders Fellowship has been a career-altering experience for me. In addition to the coaching, networking and Leadership Summit, I think the most important factor is the sense of being taken seriously as a philanthropic professional; that others are seriously invested in my career development.
Cedric Brown, Connecting Leaders Fellow, 2007-2008, CEO, Mitchell Kapor Foundation
The ABFE Fellowship gave me the skills and connections in the philanthropic field that I needed to move my career forward. I directly credit the fellowship experience as a key factor in my appointment as the Executive Director of a social justice foundation.
Trista Harris, Connecting Leaders Fellow, 2006-2007, Executive Director, Headwaters Foundation for Justice
ABFE Connecting Leaders Fellows
Class of 2011-2012
Abena Asante, Senior Program Officer, The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust
Alicia Baird, Program Officer, Access & Outreach, USA Funds
Justin Davis, Program Coordinator, College Bound Brotherhood, Mitchell Kapor Foundation
Lavastian Glenn, Program Officer, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
Joanna Jackson, Program Director, Weingart Foundation
Lynn Williams, Senior Program Officer, Community Foundation of Greater Flint
Jennifer Roller, Program Officer, John Wean Foundation
Joe Scantlebury, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Kandace Thomas, Program Officer, Irving Harris Foundation
Lyord Watson, Chair, Birmingham Change Fund, Board Member, Community Investment Network
Class of 2009-2010
Carmen Balentine
Deborah E. Bennett, Senior Program Officer, The Polk Brothers Foundation
Kelly Guy, National Child Welfare Partnerships Advisor, Casey Family Programs
Milano Harden, President & Founder, The Genius Group, Inc.
Edith Njuguna, Program Officer, The Grand Victoria Foundation
Vonda Paige, Executive Director, The Tavis Smiley Foundation
Shannon Polk, Associate Program Officer, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
K. Tyrone Spann, Director of Programming, Foundations of East Chicago
George W. Suttles, Graduate Assistant, WellPoint Foundation
LaToria Willis, Community Partner, AARP Foundation
Class of 2008-2009
Ingrid Benedict, Senior Fellow, Movement Strategy Center & Nonprofit/Philanthropic Consultant
Nicole Campbell, Director, The Broad Education Foundation
Denise A. Davis, Dr.P.H., M.P.A., Program Officer, Health Care Group, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Charles J. Evans, President, Blackstar Consulting, LLC
Charles Sidney Fields, Regional Program Manager, Los Angeles, The California Endowment
Sylvester Jones, Jr., Program Officer, Ruth Mott Foundation
LaTida Lester Smith, Senior Program Officer, St. Luke's Foundation
Marcus Littles, Senior Partner, Frontline Solutions
Yvonne Moore, Executive Director, Daphne Foundation
Daniel Shoy, Jr., Program Director, East Lake Foundation
Johngerlyn "Jonse" Young, Donor Services Director, Grand Rapids Community Foundation
Class of 2007-2008
Cedric Brown, CEO, Mitchell Kapor Foundation
Sharon Bush, Senior Program Officer, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
Danielle Deane, Director, Energy & Environment Program, Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies
Joelle-Jude Fontaine, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Tracey Greene-Dorsett, Director of Learning & Evaluation, National Rural Funders Collaborative
Danista Hunte, Senior Program Officer, Baltimore Community Foundation
Wendy L. Jackson, Senior Program Officer, The Kresge Foundation
Sharnita C. Johnson, Senior Program Officer, Skillman Foundation
Chad U. Jones, Executive Director, Community Investment Network
Nicole R. Robinson, President, President, Mondelez International Foundation
Class of 2006-2007
Paul Bachlietner, Project Director, Joint Affinity Groups (JAG)
Dawn Callahan, Artistic Solutions, Creative Event Planning and Productions
Lillian Cruz, Consultant to Nonprofits
Andrea Foggy-Paxton, Program Officer, College Ready, The Gates Foundation
Trista Harris, Executive Director, Headwaters Foundation for Justice
Sabena T. Leake, Esq.
Tamara Moore, Program Officer, College Access Foundation of California
Julius Rainey Jr., Information Technology Director, Parents for Public Schools, Inc.
Jasmine N. Hall Ratliff, Program Officer, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Lauren Veasey, M.Ed., Education Consultant
Class of 2005-2006
Tonya Allen, Chief Operating Officer, The Skillman Foundation
Andrea Anderson-Hamilton, PhD., Evaluation Consultant
Susan Taylor Batten, President and CEO, The Association of Black Foundation Executives
Rudy Guglielmo Jr., Prinicpal & Philanthropy Consultant, Guglielmo Consulting, Inc.
Rahsaan Harris, Executive Director, EPIP
Toya Randall, Program Director, Grand Victoria Foundation
Erika Seth Davies, Director of Membership & Development, The Association of Black Foundation Executives
Phillip Thomas, President/CEO, eta Creative Arts Foundation
Akilah Watkins-Butler, PhD Student/Ford Foundation Fellow at University of Illinois at Chicago
For more information about ABFE’s Connecting Leaders Fellowship Program please contact Marcus Walton at mwalton@abfe.org.