Diverse Leadership Inanities

Civic Nation has launched its latest initiative, the Change Collective, a new leadership community aiming to connect, elevate, and train local changemakers across the United States. President Barack Obama introduced the initiative through a video message, emphasizing the importance of bringing emerging leaders from diverse backgrounds together to solve community problems.

With only half of U.S. adults considering themselves civically engaged, the Change Collective seeks to address this issue by preparing the next generation of leaders, particularly those from low-income and non-college-educated backgrounds, to build a more equitable and inclusive democracy.

Led by Kalisha Dessources Figures, Senior Fellow at Civic Nation, the initiative will launch a pilot program in three cities: Chicago, IL, Detroit, MI, and Jackson, MS. Each cohort will comprise 25 leaders with diverse identities and ideologies. Participants will receive leadership development training before launching neighborhood-based civic action projects.

Applications are open for those interested in joining the Change Collective at change-collective.org. To support the initiative's growth and curriculum, a 12-person advisory council of leading experts and practitioners has been assembled, including Xavier de Souza Briggs from Brookings Institution and Alejandra Ceja from Panasonic North America, among others. The Change Collective will be housed at Civic Nation, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to building a more inclusive and equitable America.