To enhance the leadership capacities of the executive directors of selected grantee organizations.

Different moments in an organization’s life require different kinds of leadership. The most effective leaders continually assess an organization's needs and strengths, and ask how their personal competencies might be enhanced to fit the needs and strengths of their organization. We designed the Fund for Leadership Advancement to support executive directors of grantee organizations in the kind of self-reflection and development that will help propel their organizations toward the next stage of growth and allow them to respond to new opportunities or take advantage of shifting external conditions. By concentrating on the individual development needs of the executive director, we invest in their leadership ability in order to enhance the effectiveness of the organization. The fund takes a longer-term view, encouraging leaders to think carefully about the confluence of their ongoing professional development needs and the organization's future needs.

Structure of the initiative

The Fund for Leadership Advancement provides flexible and tailored support to executive directors of selected grantee organizations. This support might include executive coaching, visits to peer institutions, attendance at executive seminars or organizational development consulting focused on improving organizational performance. The fund is unusual among leadership-development programs in that it goes beyond one-time training events or conferences. Grantees are encouraged to identify more than one kind of support to foster an integrated approach, to enhance the leader’s ability to acquire new skills and knowledge, and to assist the leader in applying new knowledge within the organization.

Applications to the Fund for Leadership Advancement are by invitation only and limited to current Irvine grantees, but among grantees the application process is competitive. The fund makes six to ten grants per year in the range of $35,000 to $75,000 each.

Grantees

2007

• California Budget Project: Jean Ross, Executive Director
• Eastside College Preparatory School: Chris Bischof, Principal
• New Teacher Center, UCSC: Ellen Moir, Executive Director
• Southwest Chamber Music Society: Jan Karlin, Executive Director
• La Jolla Playhouse: Stephen Libman, Managing Director
• Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center: Ann Philbin, Director
• Center for Governmental Studies: Tracy Westen, Chief Executive Officer
• Communities For A Better Environment: Bill Gallegos, Executive Director
• Dell'Arte: Michael Fields, Producing Artistic Director
• Magic Theatre: David Jobim, Managing Director
• Oakland Museum of California Foundation: Lori Fogarty, Executive Director

2006

• Angels Gate Cultural Center: Nathan Birnbaum, Executive Director
• Aspire Public Schools: Don Shalvey, Chief Executive Officer
• California Charter School Consortium: Caprice Young, President and CEO
• Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs, CSU-LA: Jaime Regalado, Executive Director
• Envision Schools: Daniel McLaughlin, Chief Executive Officer
• Grand Performances: Michael Alexander, Executive and Artistic Director
• High Tech High Foundation: Jed Wallace, Chief Operating Officer
• Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana de San Jose: Tamara Alvarado, Executive Director
• Otis Art Institute: Samuel Hoi, President
• Pacific Asia Museum: Joan Marshall, Executive Director
• Springboard Schools: Merrill Vargo, Executive Director
• Youth Speaks: James Kass, Executive Director

2005

• Inland Congregation United for Change: Corey Timpson, Executive Director
• Oakland Community Organizations: Ron Snyder, Executive Director
• Omega Boys Club of San Francisco: Joseph Marshall, Jr., Executive Director
• Orange County Community Foundation: Shelley Hoss, Executive Director
• San Francisco Art Institute: Christopher Bratton, President
• Visual Communications (Southern California Asian American Studies Central): Leslie A. Ito, Executive Director
• Teatro Vision: Raul Lozano, Executive Director
• Ventura County Museum of History and Art: Tim Schiffer, Executive Director

Additional information

To learn more about the Fund for Leadership Advancement, read “Executive Growth in Context: The Fund for Leadership Advancement” in IQ: Irvine Quarterly.

The following studies discuss nonprofit leadership and how grantmakers can help build leadership capacity:

• Daring to Lead 2006, by the Meyer Foundation and CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, explores leading causes of executive burnout, and identifies the skills that community-based leaders most want and need to build.
• Investing in Leadership (Vol. 1) and Investing in Leadership (Vol. 2), by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, offer frameworks and examples for guiding grantmaker strategies for supporting leadership development initiatives.