Rising Leaders for Results Fellowship

The Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion invites appli­ca­tions for the sec­ond cohort of the Ris­ing Lead­ers for Results Fel­low­ship, a lead­er­ship devel­op­ment expe­ri­ence for ear­ly-career lead­ers, between the ages of 24 and 31, who are work­ing to improve out­comes for chil­dren, youth, fam­i­lies and communities.

This Fel­low­ship is designed for lead­ers who are already engaged in this work, espe­cial­ly in com­mu­ni­ties where needs are great­est and resources are lim­it­ed. Prospec­tive Fel­lows are seek­ing to deep­en their lead­er­ship, strength­en how they act in their role and increase their impact with­in the sys­tems they are part of. Strong can­di­dates are already lead­ing efforts, build­ing part­ner­ships, shap­ing pol­i­cy and con­tribut­ing in cre­ative ways across sec­tors such as edu­ca­tion, com­mu­ni­ty devel­op­ment, pub­lic pol­i­cy and the arts. Many are also com­mit­ted to equi­ty and jus­tice in their work, even as they face com­plex sys­tems and constraints.

Back­ground

The Ris­ing Lead­ers Fel­low­ship builds on the Foundation’s Thrive by 25™ com­mit­ment to ensur­ing that youth and young adults have the rela­tion­ships, resources and oppor­tu­ni­ties they need to suc­ceed in school, work and life. This focus has intro­duced the Foun­da­tion to promis­ing efforts across the coun­try, which the Fel­low­ship advances by invest­ing in lead­ers work­ing to improve out­comes in com­mu­ni­ties nav­i­gat­ing sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenges with few­er resources.

Young lead­ers helped shape this Fel­low­ship, which is Casey’s first Results Count^® offer­ing specif­i­cal­ly for the age range of 24- to 31-year-olds. 

Learn how the first Ris­ing Lead­ers class built skills and relationships

The Fel­low­ship

The Ris­ing Lead­ers Fel­low­ship is a 21-month mul­ti­ses­sion pro­gram designed to sup­port peo­ple ear­ly in their careers in strength­en­ing their lead­er­ship and their con­tri­bu­tion to results.

Fel­lows use their own work as the con­text for learn­ing, bring­ing real chal­lenges into the Fel­low­ship, test­ing new approach­es and apply­ing tools and frame­works in real time. The approach treats lead­er­ship devel­op­ment as both an inter­nal and exter­nal prac­tice, help­ing lead­ers under­stand them­selves, nav­i­gate their roles and act effec­tive­ly with­in their orga­ni­za­tion­al contexts.

The Fel­low­ship also sup­ports lead­ers in advanc­ing equi­table results. This includes exam­in­ing how race and iden­ti­ty shape out­comes, under­stand­ing how sys­tems pro­duce dif­fer­ent expe­ri­ences and tak­ing action to address dis­par­i­ties through their work.

At its core, the pro­gram is ground­ed in the belief that ear­ly-career invest­ment in skill build­ing strength­ens lead­ers’ impact over the course of their careers.

Pur­pose and Goals

The Ris­ing Lead­ers Fel­low­ship seeks to invest in emerg­ing lead­ers by prepar­ing them to pow­er­ful­ly take up and sus­tain their roles as results-dri­ven, equi­ty-focused lead­ers. To do this, the pro­gram sup­ports Fel­lows’ efforts to dri­ve mean­ing­ful change by:

• deep­en­ing their skill, will and capac­i­ty to acti­vate them­selves and oth­ers in their roles; and
• build­ing a ​“back­pack” of lead­er­ship com­pe­ten­cies, tools, expe­ri­ences, net­works and an equi­table results ori­en­ta­tion toward achiev­ing equi­table results in their work for use in their cur­rent and future lead­er­ship contexts.

To this end, par­tic­i­pants in the Fel­low­ship will:

• strength­en their abil­i­ty to take action in their roles and work with oth­ers to advance equi­table results;
• apply their learn­ing to real lead­er­ship chal­lenges, mak­ing progress on work that con­tributes to improved out­comes; and
• engage with a net­work of peers, fac­ul­ty and oth­er lead­ers to sup­port learn­ing, reflec­tion and cross-sec­tor connection.

Key

The Fel­low­ship brings togeth­er a cohort of lead­ers for a struc­tured, applied learn­ing expe­ri­ence over 21 months. The pro­gram is designed to sup­port both indi­vid­ual lead­er­ship devel­op­ment and progress on real work.

Key com­po­nents of the Fel­low­ship include the following:

Applied Lead­er­ship Work

Each Fel­low iden­ti­fies a lead­er­ship chal­lenge or result that becomes their focus through­out the Fel­low­ship. The work is car­ried out pri­mar­i­ly with­in their home orga­ni­za­tion or sys­tem and is sup­port­ed and refined through sem­i­nars, coach­ing and peer consultation.

Sem­i­nars and Learn­ing Sessions

Fel­lows par­tic­i­pate in a series of in-per­son sem­i­nars and vir­tu­al ses­sions through­out the pro­gram. These ses­sions are designed to deep­en lead­er­ship prac­tice, build skills and tools, and cre­ate space for reflec­tion, appli­ca­tion and con­nec­tion. Time between ses­sions allows Fel­lows to apply what they are learn­ing in their work.

Coach­ing and Peer Learning

Fel­lows receive indi­vid­ual and small group coach­ing from fac­ul­ty and engage in ongo­ing peer con­sul­ta­tion. These oppor­tu­ni­ties are designed to sup­port reflec­tion, strength­en lead­er­ship prac­tice and pro­vide real-time feed­back on both their work and how they show up as leaders.

Between-Ses­sion Engagement

Between sem­i­nars, Fel­lows par­tic­i­pate in vir­tu­al coach­ing, prac­tice ses­sions and oth­er touch­points that rein­force learn­ing, sup­port con­tin­ued progress and main­tain connection.

Fac­ul­ty Site Visits

Fel­lows par­tic­i­pate in struc­tured fac­ul­ty site vis­its in their home orga­ni­za­tion or work con­text. These vis­its pro­vide an oppor­tu­ni­ty for fac­ul­ty to observe Fel­lows’ lead­er­ship in prac­tice, engage direct­ly with their work and con­nect Fel­low­ship learn­ing to real-world contexts.

Each Fel­low devel­ops a cus­tomized lead­er­ship plan to pur­sue indi­vid­ual learn­ing and devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties aligned with their goals, help­ing shape their growth in ways mean­ing­ful to their lead­er­ship journey.

Net­work and Community

Fel­lows build rela­tion­ships with oth­er cohort mem­bers and, through the Fel­low­ship, con­nect with peers, fac­ul­ty and oth­er lead­ers across sec­tors. These con­nec­tions are a core part of the Fel­low­ship and are intend­ed to pro­vide ongo­ing sup­port, learn­ing and col­lab­o­ra­tion beyond the for­mal program.

Par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Fel­low­ship requires full engage­ment across all com­po­nents. The expe­ri­ence is designed to be active, reflec­tive and ground­ed in real work, with Fel­lows trav­el­ing to dif­fer­ent loca­tions for sem­i­nars that cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties for place-based learning.

Bring­ing Val­ue to Organizations

In addi­tion to the per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al growth Fel­lows expe­ri­ence, the Fel­low­ship is designed to strength­en the orga­ni­za­tions and sys­tems in which they work.

Fel­lows bring the tools, skills and ways of work­ing from the pro­gram direct­ly into their roles. They apply what they are learn­ing in real time, engag­ing col­leagues and part­ners in their work and con­tribut­ing to progress on results that mat­ter to their orga­ni­za­tion and community.

Par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Fel­low­ship is an active, ongo­ing com­mit­ment. Fel­lows are expect­ed to ful­ly engage in activ­i­ties as part of their pro­fes­sion­al responsibilities.

Orga­ni­za­tion­al and super­vi­sor sup­port is essen­tial. Fel­lows must be able to attend all sem­i­nars and engage in Fel­low­ship work dur­ing reg­u­lar work time. Super­vi­sors sup­port Fel­lows by cre­at­ing space for par­tic­i­pa­tion, engag­ing in peri­od­ic check-ins and help­ing them apply their learn­ing with­in the organization.

Pri­or to the start of the Fel­low­ship, select­ed Fel­lows and their super­vi­sors will be asked to par­tic­i­pate in a con­ver­sa­tion to align on expec­ta­tions, com­mit­ments and how best to sup­port the Fellow’s experience.

Self-employed or oth­er appli­cants in unique employ­ment arrange­ments should feel free to con­tact David Navar­ro (dnavarro@​aecf.​org) with questions.

Foun­da­tion Support

The Casey Foun­da­tion cov­ers the core costs asso­ci­at­ed with the Fel­low­ship to sup­port Fel­lows’ full par­tic­i­pa­tion in the expe­ri­ence, including:

• trans­porta­tion to and from Fel­low­ship sem­i­nars and relat­ed trav­el expenses; 
• lodg­ing and meals dur­ing sem­i­nars; and
• pro­gram materials.

Addi­tion­al resources are also avail­able to sup­port Fel­lows’ indi­vid­u­al­ized learn­ing through the Build Your Own Expe­ri­ence component.

The Foun­da­tion may also pro­vide addi­tion­al sup­port to reduce bar­ri­ers to par­tic­i­pa­tion dur­ing sem­i­nars and pro­gram activ­i­ties, such as child­care stipends or oth­er needs.