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CCL and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announce the next class of a model program for developing local leaders who can unite people to create transformational change toward a more equitable society for all.
Foundations & Philanthropic Leadership
Leadership Training for Foundations & Their Communities
Partnering with foundations to provide philanthropy-funded professional development for community leaders to drive societal impact.
Your foundation is on a mission to create change. For your leaders, that creates a unique challenge: how do you effectively and compassionately manage the health and wellness of your own internal organization and the communities you serve?
As you stretch to respond to community needs, one thing is clear: it’s time to think differently about your philanthropic leadership role. And you’re not alone. Today, many foundations are moving beyond traditional approaches, opting instead to build scalable models that apply philanthropic leadership development to drive systemic change.
This model isn’t just about internal leaders. Your grantees are already doing good work. You can support their efforts and extend their reach even further by increasing access to professional development for community leaders that builds leadership skills and supports teams and organizations.
For decades, we’ve partnered closely with large and small foundations for cutting-edge philanthropic leadership development that increases equity and improves outcomes. Leverage our experience in nonprofit leadership development, leadership training for K-12 educators, higher education leaders, and in public health organizations.
Philanthropic Leadership Development Solutions
The ability of your executive team to work together effectively may be the single most critical element in your organization’s success.
Partner with our experts in senior leadership team development, who can assess and improve executive team dynamics… because when your senior leadership team’s collaboration is at its best, the positive effects are felt across the organization and seen in results. We understand the challenges facing your foundation’s philanthropic leadership initiatives.
- Proven, research-based guidance from our experts, who have extensive experience working with senior executives
- Align your leadership and culture to your strategy and priorities
Whether you want your team to communicate more effectively across differences, align behaviors with beliefs, or address unconscious bias, this program can equip everyone at your organization — from the front desk to the corner office — to hold better conversations every day.
We can partner with you to strengthen coaching and conversation skills across your organization through a lens of building a more equitable and welcoming culture.
- Scale a more inclusive, psychologically safe culture of feedback
- Ensure everyone listens respectfully to one another and feels a sense of belonging
We offer a variety of research-based, proven leadership topic modules to help you upskill your team.
Start building a long-term outlook for success within your organization and with your external partners by breaking down silos, increasing collaboration and innovation, and transforming boundaries into frontiers.
We can deliver our world-class content on Boundary Spanning Leadership — or you can. Either way, our content will equip your team to work together more effectively.
- Proven content module that can be combined with others into a customized learning journey for leaders at every level
We have extensive experience partnering with grant-making organizations and corporate foundations (for example, with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, among many others) to design and deliver multi-year fellowship programs that offer professional development supported by philanthropy. We can help your foundation drive meaningful change through providing access to our proven, life-changing professional development to build leadership capacity as your fellows work to confront some of society’s most pressing challenges.
What Our Clients Are Saying
At CCL, we measure success by lives touched and impact made. That’s why the foundations we work with and the leaders we transform consistently tell us the same thing: their experience with us is a game-changer. Through our partnerships with foundations, we’ve helped provide philanthropic leadership training and capacity-building at literally thousands of organizations.
But don’t just take our word for it — take theirs.
“One of the specific areas that I identified for improvement through the program was collaboration skills. As a result, even though I have strong introvert tendencies, I made a conscious effort to spearhead a multiagency grant application process that resulted in the award of a $568K grant for pregnant and parenting young women.”
Read Case Study
Read Case Study
“The Center for Creative Leadership’s mission to develop leaders in their communities to have a positive impact on the world has a strong alignment with our mission, so it was obvious that there was no other group out there that we would want to work with.”
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Read Case Study
Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation
“I tolerate more differences (of opinions, perceptions, actions) as I tell myself that we think and act differently because of our social identities.”
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Read Case Study
"American Express is known for growing great leaders, and we’re passionate about applying our skills and expertise to help nonprofits cultivate and advance talent within their own organizations."
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Read Case Study
American Express
"Giving to CCL scholarships is an opportunity to directly impact the leadership and success of an individual and the lives they touch every day."
Learn about our Program Scholarships
Learn about our Program Scholarships
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
Meet Our Foundations & Philanthropy Experts
Courtney Gentry
Senior Manager, Corporate & Foundation Relations
Courtney serves as the primary relationship manager for our corporate and foundation partners and creates connections that enable innovative, systemic solutions for some of society’s biggest problems. She also manages our scholarship program, ensuring that educators and nonprofit leaders are given the opportunity to access transformational professional development to build leadership capacity. She helps individuals and organizations worldwide build a better future.
Michael Clinton, MA
Corporate Relations Partner
Michael is our Corporate Relations Partner for partnerships to advance societal impact. He creates connections that enable innovative, inclusive, and systemic solutions to building leadership capacity for all. He also manages Philanthropy Leaders Connect, a group that connects philanthropic leaders from a variety of industries and provides leadership building techniques, insights, and networking.
Vicky Grobler
Societal Impact Director, Europe
Vicky designs and delivers transformational leadership development experiences to leaders at every level, across every sector, in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America with particular focus on the NGO/Humanitarian Sector and Foundations. She collaborates with internal and external partners to meet the unique leadership needs of nonprofit, humanitarian, and inter-governmental organizations.
Let’s Talk About Philanthropic Leadership Goals at Your Foundation
Our experts are here to help. Get in touch about partnering with us to leverage philanthropy to offer professional development that builds leadership capacity and creates a greater impact.
Philanthropic Leadership Development: Research, Resources & Partnerships
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Building psychological safety between nonprofit directors and boards increases trust, improves collaboration, and strengthens culture. Watch this webinar for tactics and tips.
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Watch this webinar to get ideas for leaders, particularly at nonprofits, that will help reduce turnover in a time when workers are feeling increasingly burnt out and resources are tight.
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Working at a nonprofit can be incredibly rewarding, but with long hours, demanding workloads, and tight budgets, burnout is common. Watch this webinar for ideas on supporting team members.
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Watch this this webinar to gain a greater understanding of successful leadership in the social sector, based on our work alongside our nonprofit partners.
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As organizations seek to work together to confront and address some of society’s most complex, systemic, and enduring problems, these reimagined leadership strategies for the social sector can help.
More About Foundations & Philanthropic Leadership Training
Philanthropic Leadership Development to Drive Lasting Change
The benefits of effective philanthropic leadership development are not limited to a single event or conference. Long after the program ends, growth continues to resonate and impact ripples outward, affecting not only the individuals in the program, but also each of the lives that they touch and change as a result.
We work closely with institutional, family, and corporate foundations for philanthropic leadership initiatives providing access to capacity-building community leadership training, both internally and among grantees and communities served. We focus on the areas where leadership has the most potential to improve lives and create lasting change and improved societal outcomes.
Partnering for Philanthropy Professional Development to Community Leaders
For us, philanthropic leadership development is more than a mission — it’s a calling. As a nonprofit ourselves, we understand the need for strong, mission-driven, focused leadership. We can help you and your grantees achieve your missions and build stronger and more equitable communities. We can help you to develop the capacity of leaders at all levels, at every stage of their careers.
Like you, we are guided by purpose and fueled by passion. Combine your talented, committed team with our world-class, research-backed tools and community leadership training programs. Let’s work together to become a catalyst for change.
Frequently Asked Questions Related to Philanthropic Leadership
What is philanthropic leadership?
Philanthropic leadership is driven by passion, purpose, and a mission. Leaders of foundations and philanthropic organizations are focused on building stronger leaders and more inclusive and equitable organizations and communities. They aim to serve as catalysts to drive systemic change and sustainable social progress.
How can philanthropic leadership help communities?
Philanthropic leadership development helps create growth opportunities for leaders, increasing their capacity to respond to urgent community needs, increase equity, drive sustainable change, reduce burnout for themselves and their teams, and improve outcomes overall. A leader’s personal growth impacts and benefits everyone they touch, whether they’re working in the nonprofit sector, serving at a public health clinic or school, or partnering with teams in higher education.
What is leadership capacity and how do you build it?
Leadership capacity is about being able to learn, grow, and stretch into new areas. It’s also about challenging yourself and engaging in difficult conversations that can spark real change. Our philanthropic leadership development partnerships enable increased access to community leadership training programs, helping mission-driven organizations build leadership capacity by providing their teams with access to professional development.
More questions? Our experts are here to help. Let’s have a conversation!
Related to Foundations & Philanthropic Leadership
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