Hi folks,

FYI.

Katim

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For Release
September 18, 2000
Contact: Thea Lurie
Ford Foundation   Office of Communications
212.573.4825


Ford Foundation Launches Awards Program to Recognize Leadership in American
Communities

Call for Nominations Nationwide

New York, N.Y., September 18, 2000 - The Ford Foundation today announced a new
awards program, Leadership for a Changing World, and is seeking nominations of
community leaders across the country who are successfully tackling tough social
problems. Over six years the $19 million program will recognize 60 outstanding
leaders and leadership teams that are not broadly known beyond their immediate
community or field. Leaders will receive awards of $100,000 to advance their
work, plus $30,000 for supporting activities. The program also includes a major,
multi-year research initiative and numerous forums to bring awardees together
with other leaders to share experiences, address specific challenges, and
explore opportunities for collaboration.

"Resourceful leaders are bringing about positive change in communities across
the United States," said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation.
"We want to call attention to their work and learn what makes it effective. We
expect to get a rich range of nominations that will identify examples of
creative approaches that are getting results."

Leadership for a Changing World is a program of the Ford Foundation in
partnership with the Washington-based Advocacy Institute, which will manage the
program, and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York
University, which will conduct related research. The program has three goals: to
recognize the achievements of outstanding leaders, to provide financial support
for their continued work, and to study how leadership is perceived, created, and
sustained.

"One of the keynotes of change is the emergence of leaders with fresh ideas,"
said Melvin Oliver, vice president of the Asset Building and Community
Development program at the Ford Foundation. "This program is meant to find some
of those leaders in many different kinds of 'communities' and honor their work.
It cuts across all our areas of work at the Ford Foundation and reflects a
longstanding commitment to encourage positive change."

Leadership for a Changing World will recognize individual leaders or leadership
teams who have worked for at least two years in fields such as economic and
community development, human rights, the arts, education, sexual and
reproductive health, religion, media, and the environment. They can be working
in a specific geographic community or in broader communities linked by affinity,
ideas, and values.

"We know that talented and committed leadership exists everywhere and that it
comes in different forms," said Kathleen D. Sheekey, co-director of the Advocacy
Institute. "Leadership can be asserted individually or it can be shared in
partnerships or collectives. By highlighting the work of outstanding leaders and
leadership groups around the country, we hope to start a national dialogue about
what leadership is and to showcase examples of success."

Researchers based at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at
New York University will explore how leadership is created and sustained,
focusing at first on the dynamics of shared leadership, and will eventually
publish their findings. "By working closely with the awardees to understand
their histories, challenges, and approaches, we hope to learn more about new
ways to lead and help expand the way leadership is perceived in this country,"
said Professor Ellen Schall, director of the Leadership Initiative at the Wagner
School.

Twenty winners will be chosen in each of the next three years, with the first
selection announced in October 2001. Nominations will be accepted by the
Advocacy Institute from September 18, 2000 through January 5, 2001. Leaders must
be nominated by someone who is well acquainted with their work and can attest to
their qualifications. The selection process has multiple stages. A wide range of
respected community leaders will serve as members of regional and national
selection committees, reviewing nominations, making site visits, and
interviewing candidates. They will present a selected group of final candidates
to the Ford Foundation and the Advocacy Institute, which together will choose
the winners.

For more information on Leadership for a Changing World, or to download a
nomination brochure, go to www.leadershipforchange.org. Specific questions can
be submitted via email ([log in to unmask]), phone 202.777.7560 or by
writing to Leadership for a Changing World, Advocacy Institute, 1629 K St., NW
Suite 200 Washington, DC 20006-1629.

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