Leadership Development Institute

 

The California School-Age Consortium is proud to announce the launch our 2013-14 Leadership Development Institute (LDI). The goal of the LDI is to increase the leadership capacity of out-of-school time and early child care fields to create more responsive programming, policies and services that reflect the racial, ethnic and cultural diversity of California.

 

The LDI is an intensive year-long cohort-based program for emerging leaders of color in afterschool, school-age child care, preschool and summer enrichment. Using a multicultural leadership framework, the LDI will equip coordinator to director level professionals with an aspiration for advanced leadership in the field with skills in management and leadership. A foundational component of this project is how power, privilege and oppression manifest itself in the field.

 

Overview of the Leadership Development Institute

For the 2013-14 LDI, CalSAC seeks to recruit a cohort of 10 emerging professionals of color who currently hold leadership positions in California-based organizations. These emerging leaders will work in the areas of preschool, afterschool, school-age child care, and summer enrichment and have already indicated an aspiration for advanced leadership sometime in the future. A strong candidate will have demonstrated some (but perhaps limited) exposure to being a supervisor, working with budgets, and strategic planning and should already be familiar with the larger field and exposed to programmatic and organizational challenges.

 

However, the Institute will go beyond traditional skill building aspects. An essential component of this project will be to understand how power, privilege, and oppression manifest itself in these fields. Often leaders of color are aware of these concepts and many can point to specific experiences combating these issues, but communal spaces to reflect, strategize, and plan are rare. The Leadership Development Institute will build on these unique experiences and enable fellows to explore the issues and uncover healthy ways to challenge, navigate, and flourish in spite of the realities of power, privilege, and oppression.

 

Theory of Change:

The strategy for the program was determined through a theory of change process conducted with a planning committee consisting of partner organizations with guidance from the funders. The program was designed to build knowledge, skill and capacity in effective leadership and management within a context of the realities of power, privilege, and oppression with the intention of creating leaders who are a model for others, connected to a network and marketable within the field. These equity-centered leaders, committed to the field, the community and society would be reflective, passionate and authentic in their leadership and management. As a result, these leaders would be equipped to create more responsive programs and policies for preschool, summer and the out-of-school time fields.

 

Outcomes and Objectives:

The theory of change guides this work and the proposed outcomes, impacts and activities for the program:

 

Desired Impacts within the Community

• More responsive programs and policies for out-of-school time and early care fields
• Leaders of color who rise within the out-of-school time and early care fields
• Leaders of color who inspire others through their own accomplishment and who comfortably ‘live’ their leadership style
• Leaders who understand the interplay between their leadership style and systems of power and privilege – and who work to change systems
• Leaders in the out-of-school time and early care fields who are more reflective of the communities served

 

Long-Term Outcomes for Fellows:

• Become an equity-centered leader committed to the field, community and society
• Retained in management position or promoted to high-level management position
• Skillfully navigate power, privilege and equity challenges in their work
• Actively maintain connections with fellows and CalSAC
• Become a leader in other community networks

 

Short-Term Outcomes for Fellows

• Increased confidence in ability to secure employment and volunteer positions of higher levels of influence and responsibility
• Increased knowledge of professional opportunities and challenges in out-of-school time and early care fields
• Understand strengths, opportunities and challenges of both public and nonprofit organizational structures
• Increased understanding of key elements of systems change, community organizing, community building and social change work
• Increased ability to think strategically
• Increased commitment to leadership in the field
• Strong relationships across fellows
• Understand self-care and own capacity

 

Program Design:

CalSAC provides a comprehensive learning environment by offering a menu of distinct yet integrated learning approaches. The program will begin with a multi-day retreat to help foster a robust learning community. Fellows then meet monthly to learn core skills of leadership development. Emphasis is given to both the inner and outer work of a leader. Each Fellow will create a professional development plan that identifies their areas of mastery, development and improvement. This plan will serve as a guide throughout the LDI and be compiled into a portfolio and presented at the close of the project. Fellows will be responsible for assignments that deepen the learnings gained in Leader Circles and gatherings.

 

Major project components:

• Opening Retreat - to foster community and reflect on equity, diversity and oppression
• Development of Leadership Plans - to enable fellows to customize their program experience and maximize impact
• Monthly meetings and assignments - to build knowledge, skills and capacity
• Portfolio development and presentation - to capture impact and accomplishments through usable tools and experience
• Closing Celebration - to honor the Fellows and recognize the contributors who made the project possible
  

 

Beliefs that Guide the LDI:

• Graduates of the LDI will gain mastery of skills if they are given opportunities to demonstrate their competencies and apply their learnings in their day-to-day work
• Through the use of adult learning principles, LDI will develop a community of learners who build from personal, social and political will
• Transformation is a choice, not a mandate. We believe that participants who choose to apply, rather than those mandated, will more likely experience the full benefits of the program
• We are developing the value of mentoring, connections, and other relationships that create community among diverse professionals - often times these professional communities do not include large numbers of people of color

 

Need for Leadership Development:

Out-of-school time, child care, summer, and preschool programs are proven strategies to meet many needs for low-income people and communities of color. Not only do these programs provide safe places for children and help them build lasting relationships, they also help working families and employ members of the community.

 

In CalSAC’s experience, we often find that many frontline, direct service staff reflect the young people they serve but unfortunately that representation many times ends there - often senior staff, executive directors, and board members are not low-income or people of color. There are a number of possible reasons for this; from institutional racism to cultural barriers to advancement, but there is one common thread we do often hear (and that we can do something about) is that many senior staff feel that their frontline staff are not ready to be successors because they are ill-prepared with the skills necessary for advancement, management, and leadership.

 

The need in our community to diversify leadership has been a catalyst for leadership programs for emerging leaders and leaders of color across the state and nation. A component of the development process for LDI included an environmental scan. The scan reviewed core elements of successful leadership development programs from a variety of sectors. In addition, we partnered with LeaderSpring, an Oakland based organization that works to foster high-performing nonprofits through on-the-job leadership training, to design the CalSAC Leadership Development Institute.

 

Alumni Network

Click here to meet the LDI Alumni, Class of 2012 and learn more about the success of the inaugural cohort.

 

Fellow Applications:

Applications are due Monday, November 11, 2013 Monday, December 9, 2013.

 

Application Acceptance

If accepted, you will be required to submit the following:

-A Fellowship Commitment signed by both you and your supervisor.
-A program fee based on the size of the organization’s operating budget:

 

Less than $499,999:	$150 program fee
$500,000 to $999,999:	$300 program fee
$1,000,000 to $3,999,999:	$500 program fee
Over $4,000,000	$750 program fee

 Fellowships are valued at $6,000, and costs are highly subsidized thanks to CalSAC’s generous donors.

 

Fellowship Commitment

 

I understand that to fully benefit from the LDI Fellowship, I need to fully participate in the program. If selected as a Leadership Development Institute Fellow, I commit to:

• Participate in an opening retreat, to be held January 30-Feb 1, 2014 in the SF Bay Area

• Participate in 100% of LDI’s cohort gatherings (four full-day, three half-day and one overnight) on the dates below. I understand that less than 80% attendance could result in termination of my Fellowship

• Friday, March 14, 2014 (location TBD)

• Friday, April 11, 2014 (location TBD)

• Monday, May 12 – Tuesday, May 13,2014: CA Afterschool Challenge, Sacramento

• Friday, June 6, 2014 (location TBD)

• Friday, July 18, 2014 (location TBD)

• Friday, August 8, 2014(location TBD)

• Friday, September 12, 2014 (location TBD)

• Friday, October 10, 2014 (location TBD)

• Friday, November 7, 2014 (location TBD)

• Fully participate in a closing retreat, to be held Friday, December 12, 2014 in the SF Bay Area

• Complete periodic assignments to ground the learnings from the Leaders Circles in my work and life

• Actively work to set and achieve my community or organizational project and learning goals, and periodically report updates to the CalSAC

• Invest the time and effort in a diverse peer learning community by actively contributing my knowledge, skills, and insights

• Contribute toward a safe and trusting learning environment for me and my peers by respecting and honoring the need for confidentiality and differences of opinion, learning style, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.

• Provide baseline, mid-point, and post-fellowship data on myself, and complete an assessment at the end of the program

• Participate in roughly two interviews during the program for purposes of assessing my progress at meeting my goals and CalSAC’s impact

• Permit CalSAC to use my photograph on the website, both a headshot and candid photos from events, and quote me regarding my experiences and program participation

 

 Application Requirements

• Must identify as a person of color

• Must identify as an emerging leader who works in the areas of preschool, afterschool, school-age or summer enrichment

• Be a coordinator, manager and/or director in a California-based out-of-school, child care, summer enrichment or pre-school program

• Have aspiration for advanced leadership in the out-of-school time or early child care field

• A strong candidate will have demonstrated some exposure to being a supervisor, working with budgets and strategic planning and programming.

• Has at least 2 years of experience working with a school-age child care, preschool or afterschool program, summer enrichment or in governmental agencies or foundations that work with out-of-school time issues

• Support from agency supervisor to participate in LDI. A Fellowship Commitment must be signed by both you and your supervisor.

• Must be available to attend all cohort gatherings

 

To Apply:

Complete the online application here. Applications are due Monday, December 9, 2013 (although we encourage you to submit your application sooner). The anticipated notification date is December 20, 2013.

 

Download an application preview here to prepare responses before starting the online application.