Ford Foundation Launches Awards Program to Recognize Leadership in American Communities

Call for Nominations Nationwide

New York, N.Y., September 18, 2000 - The Ford Foundation today announced a new awards program, Leadership for a Changing World, and is seeking nominations of community leaders across the country who are successfully tackling tough social problems. Over six years the $19 million program will recognize 60 outstanding leaders and leadership teams that are not broadly known beyond their immediate community or field. Leaders will receive awards of $100,000 to advance their work, plus $30,000 for supporting activities. The program also includes a major, multi-year research initiative and numerous forums to bring awardees together with other leaders to share experiences, address specific challenges, and explore opportunities for collaboration.

“Resourceful leaders are bringing about positive change in communities across the United States,” said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation. “We want to call attention to their work and learn what makes it effective. We expect to get a rich range of nominations that will identify examples of creative approaches that are getting results.”

Leadership for a Changing World is a program of the Ford Foundation in partnership with the Washington-based Advocacy Institute, which will manage the program, and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, which will conduct related research. The program has three goals: to recognize the achievements of outstanding leaders, to provide financial support for their continued work, and to study how leadership is perceived, created, and sustained.

“One of the keynotes of change is the emergence of leaders with fresh ideas,” said Melvin Oliver, vice president of the Asset Building and Community Development program at the Ford Foundation. “This program is meant to find some of those leaders in many different kinds of ‘communities’ and honor their work. It cuts across all our areas of work at the Ford Foundation and reflects a longstanding commitment to encourage positive change.”

Leadership for a Changing World will recognize individual leaders or leadership teams who have worked for at least two years in fields such as economic and community development, human rights, the arts, education, sexual and reproductive health, religion, media, and the environment. They can be working in a specific geographic community or in broader communities linked by affinity, ideas, and values.

“We know that talented and committed leadership exists everywhere and that it comes in different forms,” said Kathleen D. Sheekey, co-director of the Advocacy Institute. “Leadership can be asserted individually or it can be shared in partnerships or collectives. By highlighting the work of outstanding leaders and leadership groups around the country, we hope to start a national dialogue about what leadership is and to showcase examples of success.”

Researchers based at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University will explore how leadership is created and sustained, focusing at first on the dynamics of shared leadership, and will eventually publish their findings. “By working closely with the awardees to understand their histories, challenges, and approaches, we hope to learn more about new ways to lead and help expand the way leadership is perceived in this country,” said Professor Ellen Schall, director of the Leadership Initiative at the Wagner School.

Twenty winners will be chosen in each of the next three years, with the first selection announced in October 2001. Nominations will be accepted by the Advocacy Institute from September 18, 2000 through January 5, 2001. Leaders must be nominated by someone who is well acquainted with their work and can attest to their qualifications. The selection process has multiple stages. A wide range of respected community leaders will serve as members of regional and national selection committees, reviewing nominations, making site visits, and interviewing candidates. They will present a selected group of final candidates to the Ford Foundation and the Advocacy Institute, which together will choose the winners.

For more information on Leadership for a Changing World, or to download a nomination brochure, go to www.leadershipforchange.org. Specific questions can be submitted via email (info@leadershipforchange.org), phone 202.777.7560 or by writing to Leadership for a Changing World, Advocacy Institute, 1629 K St., NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20006-1629.

The Ford Foundation, established in 1936, is a private, nonprofit institution that serves as a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. Its goals are to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. A national and international philanthropy with assets of over $14 billion, the Foundation has provided more than $10 billion in grants and loans worldwide. The Ford Foundation maintains headquarters in New York, offices in countries in Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and an office in Russia.

The Advocacy Institute, founded in 1985, works to make a difference around the world by strengthening movements for political, social, and economic justice through leadership support, networking and development. With its partners, it helps make democratic institutions accountable. The institute’s actions link it to a global community of grassroots activists and non-governmental organizations that tackle critical human rights issues such as gender equity, peace, sustainable development, public health, ending poverty, and protecting the environment.

The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, established in 1938, offers advanced programs leading to the professional degrees of Master of Public Administration, Master of Urban Planning, Master of Science in management, and Doctor of Philosophy. Through these programs, the Wagner School educates the future leaders of public, nonprofit, and health institutions as well as private organizations serving the public sector. As the largest school of public service in the country, it is committed to preparing people who can translate ideas into action.