LeaderStories is brought to you by the American Express Leadership Academy. Since 2008, the American Express Leadership Academy has hosted more than 160 Leadership Academy programs around the world, training more than 5,400 nonprofit and social sector leaders.
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New York, NY; Mexico City, Mexico; Dakar, Senegal and Nairobi, Kenya Ashoka strives to shape a global, entrepreneurial, competitive citizen sector; one that allows social entrepreneurs to thrive and enables the world's citizens to think and act as changemakers. The Changemakers Everywhere Academy is an intensive learning journey, where high-caliber social entrepreneurs with a background in governance will connect with and learn from one another, ultimately creating a global movement of equity-minded innovators. Participants benefit from expert instruction, mentoring from key thought leaders, and opportunities for networking and collaboration – tools to rapidly scale their social enterprises in an impactful way. The Changemakers Everywhere Academy is an evolution of the American Express Leadership Academy Emerging Innovators Bootcamp. |
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Aspen, CO The American Express Leadership Academy 2.0 at the Aspen Institute develops high-potential nonprofit leaders. Using the Aspen Institute method of text-based dialogue, the fellowship provides 15 nonprofit leaders with a neutral forum in which to reflect on timeless human values, pursue common ground, and cultivate a richer understanding of the human condition. Outcomes include new insights and networking, with long-term positive benefits to the fellows and their organizations. Individuals nominated for the fellowship will be executive or management level professionals who are at an inflection point in their lives or careers. Having already achieved professional success, they are ready to renew their commitment to advancing the public good. These individuals must possess a breadth of experience and level of maturity that will enable them to contribute effectively to the fellowship experience. Fellows will come from diverse backgrounds in terms of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, and geography. Through a competitive process, these talented nonprofit leaders are selected to participate in the week-long fellowship. Nominations are made by American Express Foundation grantees and partners. Nominations are made by invitation only. |
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Phoenix, AZ The American Express Leadership Academy at the ASU Lodestar Center is an unparalleled leadership-development experience, designed just for Arizona's nonprofit professionals. This program empowers leaders to grow their impact, build new networks, and advance their careers. Each year, the Academy accepts a cohort of Arizona's top emerging nonprofit leaders for this nine-month program that provides the knowledge and tools needed to take on leadership roles within the nonprofit sector. Candidates are selected through a competitive process, The Academy is comprised of best-practice approaches to leading and managing nonprofits, from renowned professors and practitioner instructors at ASU, as well as established nonprofit leaders. |
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Washington, DC Atlas Corps, started in 2006, is an international network of social change leaders and organizations that promotes innovation, cooperation, and solutions to address the world’s 21st-century challenges. Our mission is to address critical social issues, Atlas Corps develops leaders and strengthens organizations through training programs and a global alumni community of skilled social change professionals. Profiled as a “best practice” in international exchange by the Brookings Institution and featured in the Washington Post as a model social entrepreneurship program, Atlas Corps engages leaders committed to the the social sector in virtual and/or in-person leadership programs, which include a 12 to 18 month, professional fellowships at organizations to learn best practices and a virtual leadership training to build organizational capacity, and return home to create a network of global changemakers. |
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New York, NY and various U.S. cities The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) is a top-ranked, global provider of executive education that develops better leaders through its exclusive focus on leadership education and research. In 2008, CCL and American Express launched the inaugural American Express Leadership Academy for emerging leaders representing a wide range of national and local nonprofit organizations. The week-long program remains our flagship Academy and takes place twice a year in New York, NY. |
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London, UK; Hong Kong, China; Singapore, ASEAN; and Johannesburg, South Africa Common Purpose delivers face-to-face and online leadership programmes for multiple generations of leaders: from students in universities to senior leaders in organizations and society. They develop leaders who can cross boundaries. This enables them to solve complex problems both in organizations and in society. In 2010, American Express partnered with Common Purpose to create a Leadership Academy in the UK, bringing together emerging leaders from leading charities, including community, education, international relief and cultural organizations. Since then, the program has successfully expanded to Hong Kong, Singapore, and more recently Southern Africa. |
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The American Express NGen Fellows program offers a transformative opportunity for changemakers, age 40 and under, to strengthen their leadership capacity, hone their change-making skills, and build connections with some of the social sector’s most influential leaders. Every year the NGen Fellows program selects 12 individuals to participate in a nine-month leadership development program that centers six core results. By the end of the Fellows experience changemakers will have furthered their practice of self-awareness, racial equity, adaptive leadership, using a results based frame, systems change, and developing a network of peers.
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Rockwood brings 21 years of expertise in transformative leadership work in the social change arena. As one of the principal providers of multi-day transformative leadership trainings across the country, Rockwood is integral to the ecosystem of social change nonprofits, the hub of a large diverse multiracial alum network, and central to the development of leadership across social change movements. Today, over 8,000 Rockwood alums—of which 74% are women or non-binary, 60% are people of color, and 28% are LGBTQ-identified—are leading change in organizations confronting the fundamental challenges of our day, from racial equity, to economic justice, to the climate crisis. |
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New York, NY and Washington, DC SparkAction is a nonprofit storytelling and advocacy platform to inspire and mobilize action by and for young people. Based in Brooklyn, New York, SparkAction is managed by the Forum for Youth Investment, which helps leaders across the country get young people ready for life. The SparkAction team launched and manages LeaderStories, and in December 2019, will host our first leadership Academy, working with the Center for Creative Leadership. The unique three-day Academy will be held in Brooklyn and serve 24 emerging leaders selected through an open crowd-sourced challenge. Stay tuned to learn more. |
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Tempe, AZ As a leader in global management, Thunderbird holds over 70 years of experience in developing leaders with the global mindset, business skills and social responsibility necessary to create lasting value for organizations and communities. The American Express Leadership Academy at Thunderbird targets emerging leaders from across the globe, representing leading international nonprofit organizations. The five-day program with post-program leadership coaching provides practical opportunities to learn and build personal leadership skills while also building the organizational capacity of their organizations via an organizational challenge project. American Express Leadership Academy at Thunderbird from Thunderbird at ASU on Vimeo. |