The Collective Impact Forum, a partnership between FSG and the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions, is launching the Collective Leadership Advancing Racial Equity (CLARE) Program, January 2025 – October 2025.
This 10-month leadership accelerator is designed to invest in the capacity and wellbeing of 20 individuals leading collaborative work in place (e.g., “backbone leaders”).
Program Priorities:
This program will center and prioritize the participation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) leaders in the U.S. South working in place-based collectives focused on health and racial equity and/or issue-specific health collaboratives such as birth justice and reproductive rights. While the primary focus of the accelerator is on BIPOC leaders, the program welcomes anyone leading collaborative place-based work who is committed to advancing racial equity.
For the purposes of this program, the U.S. South is inclusive of the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, DC, and West Virginia.
Program Objectives:
- Focus on healing and wellness to sustain participants in their roles by reclaiming and honoring individual and social group traditions and spiritual, sacred and somatic practices that facilitate individual and community healing and addresses burnout and racial harm.
- Deepen participant analysis of how social identities influence their approach to collaborative leadership so that they are leading from a lens of systems thinking and transformation, and in a way that centers the intersectionality of equity.
- Build social networks and collective power as a group of BIPOC leaders that can be called upon to support each other’s work to advance systems change in their respective communities.
Participation in CLARE offers the following:
- Exploration of leadership in the context of leading a collaborative
- Tools and resources to support collaborative work and build selfcare/wellness practices
- In person convening(s)
- Six hours of 1:1 coaching with a certified Leadership Coach
- 48 hours of session time with subject matter experts and cohort peers across all in-person and virtual session
- Complimentary registration to the 2025 Collective Impact Action Summit
- A certificate of completion from the Collective Impact Forum
- A $1,500 stipend
Cost for Participants:
Participants will only be responsible for the cost of travel to in person convening(s). Other costs (materials and lodging and food for in person convening(s)) are covered.
Program Application
- Before applying, you can review this PDF copy of the application questions.
- To apply, please fill out this online form as well as have your manager (or board member) submit a Manager Letter of Support. (Link to letter included in the application survey.)
- Applications and Manager Letters of Support are due by November 12, 2024
Program Contact:
If you are interested in participating in the CLARE program please submit an application using this link by Tuesday, November 12, 2024. You may contact Courtney W. Robertson at courtney.robertson@collectiveimpactforum.org, Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Collective Impact Forum, for questions.
Join a Virtual Informational Webinar to Learn More!
If you would like to learn more about the CLARE program, the CI Forum will host an optional virtual informational webinar on Thursday, October 17, 2024 1pm – 2pm ET.
Please click this link to register; a recording of this session will be shared with all registrants and made available on the CI Forum website.
Key Application Dates
- October 7, 2024: Request for Applications Released
- October 17, 2024: Optional Informational Webinar. Register HERE.
- November 12, 2024: Applications and Manager Letter of Support Due by 11:59PM ET.
- December 16, 2024: Acceptance Status Notification
Eligibility and Selection Considerations
- Region: Priority will be given to participants leading place-based work in the Southern region of the United States, as described above.
- Issue and Population Focus: Priority will be given to participants from place-based collaboratives focused on health equity and whose work supports and benefits communities of color. This may include collectives focused on transforming health systems, health equity, and/or issue-specific collaboratives such as birth justice and reproductive rights.
- Collaborative Maturity: Participants must be from established collaboratives that have, at minimum, begun implementing their work at a county, city, or neighborhood level, ensuring proximity to the communities served.
- Backbone Role: Participants must have been in a full time backbone facilitation/ lead role for a collaborative. Participants can be the leader of the backbone team, or a rising leader who facilitates significant community-facing work for the collaborative.
- Time in Role: Participants must have been in their full time facilitation/lead role for a collaborative for at least one year, by program launch in January 2025.
- Equity Commitment: Participants must have a demonstrated commitment to racial equity, as demonstrated by current work and personal statements.
- Demographics: Additional considerations will be given toward creating a diverse cohort along the demographics of disability, geography (tribal, rural, and urban), gender, and sexual orientation.
- Organizational Commitment: Participant’s manager must sign a letter of support. If the applicant is in an Executive Director role, a signed letter from a current board member is acceptable.
Program Schedule
All virtual sessions are 1pm – 5pm ET with the exception of the orientation, which is 1pm – 3pm ET.
- January 17, 2025: Orientation (Virtual)
- February 24 – 26, 2025: Kick-Off Convening #1 (In-Person)
- March 26, 2025: Convening #2 (Virtual)
- April 29 – May 1, 2025: Collective Impact Action Summit (Virtual, optional)
- May 28, 2025: Convening #3 (Virtual)
- July 23, 2025: Convening #4 (Virtual)
- September 28 – 30, 2025: Convening #5 (Format TBD). Participants will be notified by June 30, 2025 regarding the format (in-person or virtual) of this convening.
- October 28, 2025: Closing Convening #6 (Virtual)
*Coaching sessions will be scheduled and agreed upon independently by the coach and each participant.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I apply to join the CLARE program?
Apply here to submit your application. You can review a copy of the questions as you prepare your application here. Applications, including a Manager Letter of Support, must be received by November 12, 2024.
What is the cost to participate in the CLARE program?
Participants are responsible for the cost of travel to the in person convening(s) (flight, baggage fees, ground transportation, and any meals purchased outside of the meals provided by the in-person convening). Participants will receive a $1,500 stipend to help offset these costs.
How do I know if I am a good fit for the CLARE program?
You are a good fit for the program if:
- you have a clear commitment to advancing equity.
- you work at an organization or on a team (based in the U.S. South preferred) that supports the convening and facilitation of a local collaborative partnership / collaboration / coalition (focus on health equity/issues preferred).
- you serve as a lead project manager/facilitator of that local collaborative workgroup or partnership.
- the collaborative workgroup or partnership has a clear commitment to advancing equity.
What if I am unable to attend all CLARE program activities?
It is our hope that participants are able to attend all program engagements, as session content is connected throughout, but we do recognize that things happen and will make exceptions under extenuating circumstances.You may indicate any conflicts with program dates in your application submission. Participants are required to attend at least 80% of programming to receive the $1,500 stipend at the end.
What timezone is used when listing the virtual session times for the CLARE program?
All virtual session times are listed in the Eastern Time Zone (US & Canada).
I am not the executive director of the collective impact initiative. Can I still apply?
This program is designed for people that hold a leadership role for the collective, and facilitate equity-focused systems change work to move forward in the community. We anticipate that some participants will be the organization or collective’s executive director, and that others will be rising leaders that already hold significant facilitation and leadership responsibility within the collective.
I am an independent consultant that facilitates place-based collaborative work. Can I apply?
No, this program is designed for people that sit within larger organizations. The reason for this is that we seek to support leaders’ capacity to create change within their organizations and the collaboratives that they lead.
Can I apply on behalf of a colleague or can I transfer my application to a colleague?
No, each applicant must be applying for themselves and applications cannot be transferred to another colleague. If you are accepted and can no longer participate, your application also cannot be transferred to a colleague.
Which states are considered the U.S. South?
For the purposes of this program, the U.S. South is inclusive of the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, DC, and West Virginia.
Have Further Questions?
Attend our informational webinar on October 17 or reach out to Courtney W. Robertson, CIF Director of Programs and Partnerships at courtney.robertson@collectiveimpactforum.org if you have questions.
