Learnings From The Community Leadership Project

The Community Leadership Project is a three year investment strategy by Packard, Hewlett, and Irvine foundations to strengthen the organizational and leadership capacities of small organizations serving low-income people and communities of color in the San Joaquin Valley, the Central Coast and the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Twenty-seven (27) intermediaries were funded to provide core financial and tailored support to small to mid-size nonprofits to build five capacities: adaptive, leadership, operational/management, programmatic, and community/collaborative. Ten intermediaries were funded under the leadership strategy.

The Leadership Learning Community, partnered with Social Policy Research Associates on an evaluation research project, and recently completed an interim report on Developing Leaders of Color in Low-Income Communities. We identified promising practices in outreach and recruitment; and in culturally relevant and accessible leadership supports. Here is a summary of some of our learning.

OUTREACH AND RECRUITMENT: A number of factors enable successful outreach and recruitment.

* An organizational presence in the region. Leadership programs that are physically present in a region have an easier time recruiting participants. When programs expand into a new region, they often succeed more in their recruitment efforts when they have a local partner. Gaining an effective presence takes time to cultivate new relationships.
* A network of alumni in the region. Alumni are the best ambassadors for recruiting new participants; they can speak openly about the value of the program, and encourage and support their peers to apply and participate. When hard-to-reach leaders hear about a program from someone they know, they are more likely to trust the benefits of the program.
* An investment of time and resources in building relationships. Intermediary staff spend up to a year or more cultivating relationships with potential participants. It takes time to build trust and to find the right time to participate if you are the leader of a small nonprofit.
* A flexible and supportive application process. Not everyone is ready to apply at the same time. When programs are flexible in the application process (e.g., rolling applications), they see an increase in the number of applicants.
* Language accessibility. In non-native English speaking communities, programs are less accessible if outreach materials, applications, and calls are not carried out in the native language of the person applying. Language accessibility is also important during the program, and may take the form of simultaneous translation or encouraging native language to make a point that can not be made as easily in English.
* Compensating participation. When economic times are tough, minimal fees and lack of childcare or transportation can prevent people from participating in a program. Compensating leaders for childcare, transportation, and time lost from work enables participation by those who are financially insecure.

CULTURALLY RELEVANT AND ACCESSIBLE LEADERSHIP SUPPORTS FOR LEADERS OF COLOR: Some learning about cultivating culturally relevant and accessible leadership supports.

* Adapt leadership supports to fit the context and needs of the leader and the organization. If you target leaders of color, they may need different types of leadership support if they are working within a larger nonprofit, or if they are a grassroots leader in an organization with no paid staff. When organizations are too small, too new or too under-staffed, they have difficulty participating in formal leadership programs; coaching may be more worthwhile.
* Provide coaching and mentoring. Often new leadership emerges in communities, with no one to coach or mentor them to develop their personal leadership style, build an organization, and build relationships with others in the community. Coaching and mentoring can build confidence and connections; even regular calls to check in between sessions of a program can make a big difference in supporting emerging leaders of color to feel more comfortable in a formal program.
* Use culturally accessible and relevant assessment tools. Leadership assessments that guide self-reflection, and that provide feedback about leadership behaviors from others are important tools for setting goals and making leadership changes. Many assessment tools are not designed for assessing leadership in small, grassroots organizations that are committed to social justice and social change. My Healthy Organization (used in CLP evaluation) is an organizational assessment tool that was designed with grassroots social justice organizations in mind.
* Practice circle methodologies. Circle methodologies build trust and social capital. Leaders get to know one another in personal and authentic ways across differences and boundaries. Reflective check-ins enable leaders who come from different classes, races, and cultures to talk openly about where they come from, the oppression they have experienced, and give voice to their own feelings and cultural analysis.
* Learn experientially with others. Experiential learning with a peer group enables leaders and organizations to try new things and process what they learn with each other. When the group is diverse and the learning container is healthy, the pace and depth of learning grows exponentially, often leading to innovative solutions and more significant community level results.

What are you learning about effective outreach and recruitment in communities of color, immigrant communities, and low-income communities? What leadership supports have you found support transformative change for leaders of color, their organizations, and their communities?

For more on what the funders have learned, and the direction for the Project over the next several years, here is a link to their recently issued RFP. The deadline for proposals is September 28th.