Training and Connecting the Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders

Underpinning Barr’s efforts in its major focus areas is a commitment to a racially just and caring community with robust civic engagement. To support this vision of community, the Foundation provides support for organizations with strong track records of developing new and diverse leadership. I wrote about one of these last March—the Proteus Diversity Fellowship, which is focused on philanthropy. Another program, focused on the broader nonprofit sector, is the Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership (INML), which is housed at the Boston University School of Management.

For more than 30 years, BU has offered the Public and Nonprofit Management Program for MBA candidates seeking to apply their management training to the social sector. In 2007, it launched INML with a mission to educate, support, and connect the next generation of nonprofit leaders. In that first year, INML enrolled 14 diverse professionals from Boston-based nonprofit organizations in its part-time certificate program designed to enhance their leadership in the sector. In 2008, to help INML build on the success of its first year, Barr provided a first grant to enroll 100 new candidates in the program over the next two years.

INML now offers two programs. The seven-month Core Program is designed for working executives and senior and middle managers who want to strengthen their foundational skills, build confidence, and join a rapidly growing network of nonprofit leaders. Graduates of the program receive a Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from Boston University. The new Community Fellows Program, also a certificate program, targets young, urban leaders who have already demonstrated leadership potential. This two-year program marries the Core Program’s focus on organizational leadership with community leadership.

Even as the program has grown, INML has maintained a commitment to increasing diversity of nonprofit leaders. Approximately 60% of the INML faculty are of color. And during INML’s first six years of operating, 43% of its graduates are people of color.

Although still relatively new, the INML has been celebrated broadly. In 2012, for example, it was awarded The Boston Foundation’s Out of the Blue Grant for outstanding program quality and leadership in the nonprofit sector.

Please note that applications for the Core Program are due July 1, 2013.