Future Leaders

In 2005, NP surveyed Oregon Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and found that 60% of Executive Directors planned to retire within five years. The Future Leaders Initiative (FLI) addressed the leadership needs of these organizations which are critical to our communities’ future diversity and vitality. The Future Leaders Initiative also sought to prepare emerging leaders and by extension, their organizations for managing more complex organizations in a dynamic environment.

The goals of the Future Leaders Initiative were to: 

  1. Address the CDC succession crisis by developing new leadership within the industry that has a broad understanding of the industry and a grounding in the management tools needed to move with CDCs into a new stage in their evolution
  2. Diversify the leadership base of Oregon’s CDC industry – recruit and nurture leaders of color, leaders with a grasp of cultural and class issues, and leaders with a commitment to and roots in rural Oregon; and
  3.  Create a support network among emerging leaders to enhance job satisfaction and institutionalize standards for sound program design and evaluation.

In 2007, FLI selected eighteen talented up and coming leaders from across the state of Oregon to participate in this project.   These 18 individuals participated in 12 months of on-going training, as well as a Leadership Challenge. 

Check out more about the 2007 Future Leaders Initiative (http://futureleaders.tnpf.org/).