ONEplace Emerging Leader Academy Vision:

• ONEplace is a trusted source that envisions leaders who can show up fully in the organizations where they work. Committed to ongoing learning and practice, they facilitate space for imagination and create containers for collective thinking.
• ONEplace leaders are reflective, courageous, empowered, and anti-racist. They are critical lovers of institutions in need of transformation. These leaders can organize people and resources to make needed change happen regardless of their positions.
• We believe these leaders will anchor and support organizations that are rooted in anti-racist, human-centered values.
• This leadership in organizations will animate a thriving nonprofit sector in Kalamazoo.

Since 2012, the ONEplace Nonprofit Emerging Leader Academy has offered emerging community leaders an in-depth exploration of leadership within a nonprofit organization.

The goal of the Academy is to develop anti-racist leadership within the nonprofit sector.

The Evaluation Center at WMU worked with ONEplace to assess our programs. For Leader Academy, the data reflects that graduates:

• Expanded organization activities
• Started a new fundraising campaign
• Increased supervision responsibilities
• Changed roles within the organization or applied for a position at another organization
• Lead strategic planning or re-organization

Following Leader Academy, graduates rated their satisfaction as high and continued to connect with peers. As noted by one graduate, Leader Academy “helped me gain confidence in my own abilities and connected me with a network of others who have already been a huge help to me and my organization.”

In 2021, we worked with Mia Henry from Freedom Lifted to reimagine this program, explicitly taking the foundation we had and incorporating anti-racism and equity into the framework.

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the program, get questions answered and explore if the program is a good fit for you. It’s also a good opportunity to check-in about the application process. We require interested participants attend an info session or review the recording.

Please take a moment to learn more about Leader Academy here.

This session will take place on Zoom. ONEplace will email you a link the day before. Contact [email protected] to request the recording or if you have any questions.