Seeking Applicants for Boys and Men of Color Leadership Initiative in Atlanta

African-Amer­i­can and Lati­no res­i­dents rep­re­sent more than half of Atlanta’s pop­u­la­tion. Yet, inequities in edu­ca­tion, employ­ment and oth­er areas have left many local res­i­dents — espe­cial­ly men and boys of col­or — dis­con­nect­ed from the oppor­tu­ni­ties they need to thrive.

Boys and Men of Col­or Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Col­lab­o­ra­tion Cir­cle, offered by the Foun­da­tion Cen­ter South and the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, is work­ing to change this real­i­ty. The ini­tia­tive, which is now accept­ing appli­ca­tions for its next cycle, aims to help non­prof­it lead­ers devel­op aca­d­e­m­ic and eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ties for boys and men of color.

Ide­al appli­cants are local lead­ers who:

• work for a nonprofit;
• are deeply com­mit­ted to under­stand­ing the com­plex needs of boys and men of color;
• want to imple­ment effec­tive programming;
• under­stand the impor­tance of cre­ative col­lab­o­ra­tion; and
• can demon­strate a his­to­ry of suc­cess serv­ing boys and men of col­or in the six-coun­try region of Clay­ton, Cobb, DeKalb, Ful­ton, Gwin­nett and Rockdale.

Apply Today

“We hear time and time again that lead­ers need resources, con­nec­tions to best prac­tices, a pro­fes­sion­al learn­ing com­mu­ni­ty and a plat­form to ele­vate and expand what’s work­ing,” says Maria S. Azuri, region­al direc­tor of the Foun­da­tion Cen­ter South. ​“The Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Col­lab­o­ra­tion Cir­cle seeks to bridge this gap.”

The Boys and Men of Col­or Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Col­lab­o­ra­tion Cir­cle will help local lead­ers enrich part­ner­ships, strength­en net­works, share best prac­tices and secure addi­tion­al fund­ing to devel­op oppor­tu­ni­ties that will enable boys and men of col­or to reach their full poten­tial. Par­tic­i­pants will also explore self-care, pow­er dynam­ics and inter­nal assess­ments across var­i­ous indi­ca­tors of orga­ni­za­tion­al strength.

The ini­tia­tive launched in 2016 as a six-month pilot pro­gram. Four­teen par­tic­i­pants were tapped for this cycle, which tack­led top­ics such as sus­tain­able scal­ing strate­gies and best-prac­tice pro­gram­ming needs.

“To address the sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenges and dis­par­i­ties boys and men of col­or in Metro Atlanta face, we as phil­an­thropists must sup­port the orga­ni­za­tions that work with them day to day in the com­mu­ni­ty,” says Kweku Forstall, direc­tor of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site. ​“The col­lab­o­ra­tion cir­cle is fill­ing this need and help­ing to build the capac­i­ty of non­prof­its that are already doing great work.”

This year’s six-month pro­gram will start on July 20, 2018. Appli­ca­tions must be received by 5 p.m. EDT on June 1, 2018. Final­ists will be announced on June 8, 2018.

Apply for the 2018 Col­lab­o­ra­tion Circle