Fellowship for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Advocacy

Now in its third year, the Fellowship for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Advocacy is an intensive leadership program designed to teach powerful visioning, listening, speaking, presentation, coaching, team-building and feedback skills to leaders engaged with advocacy and organizing for LGBTQ equality and liberation.

The Program

This intensive leadership program is designed to teach powerful visioning, listening, speaking, presentation, coaching, team-building and feedback skills to leaders engaged with advocacy and organizing for lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer equality and liberation. The program includes two 5-day residential retreats, professional and peer coaching sessions, and additional leadership support.

Key Skills

• Deal more effectively with organizational challenges
• Manage relationships to increase personal and organizational effectiveness
• Sharpen and sustain compelling visions for your work
• Inspire and align others to work effectively towards common goals
• Increase sustainability and engage with tools to prevent burnout
• Build partnerships inside and outside your organization

Program Offerings

Art of Collaborative Leadership

May 17-21, 2010 | Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Art of Collaborative Leadership is an intensive retreat workshop in which participants will hone skills related to articulating vision, managing difficult conversations, and identifying personal leadership strengths and challenges. Each participant receives a 360-degree leadership evaluation from peers. The training includes time for participant-driven dialogue aimed at strengthening collaborative work in the National Security and Human Rights field.

Advanced Art of Leadership: Leadership in Action

November 15-19, 2010 | Briarcliff Manor, New York

The Advanced Art of Leadership: Leadership In Action challenges participants to delve deeper into their professional development and partnerships. This second Fellowship retreat builds off the tools and experience of the Art of Collaborative Leadership, with continued opportunity for field dialogue. It is designed for leaders who wish to enhance their skills in areas of both leadership and collaboration, including an examination of power (personal, positional and institutional), strategy and performance, personal and organizational sustainability.

Professional Coaching Sessions & Peer Coaching

Coaching is both an important leadership skill and resource for social change leaders. In the Fellowship, leaders each have access to 2 hours of professional coaching, and will be partnered with other Fellows to engage in a peer coaching relationship over the course of the seven months.

Experiential Learning Project

To reinforce the tools of the training, participants will engage in self-designed, small-group projects focused on building LGBTQ movement capacity while applying the skills they have acquired.

The Trainers

Our programs are led by nationally and internationally-recognized thinkers, educators, and activists who are experienced in sharing the most in depth, leading insights on leadership development , collaboration and capacity building.

The Fellowship for LGBTQ Advocacy will be led by:

Michael Bell Michael is a nationally-recognized expert and keynote speaker on establishing and re-energizing effective diversity councils. A leader in the fields of organizational development and strategic planning, Michael is a core member of two national think tanks, Fetzer Institute’s “Healing the Heart of Diversity” and the “Bohmian Dialogue Research Group.”

Toby Lynn Herzlich Toby is a facilitator and trainer focusing on assisting grassroots organizations, public agencies, progressive leaders, and nonprofits devoted to building community assets and fostering transformational change. Based in Santa Fe, she guided a process there to launch the National Lesbian and Gay Community Funding Partnership program and has trained leaders from the LGBTQ community nationally.

Fellow Criteria

The ideal candidates for Rockwood’s 2010 Fellowship for LGBTQ Advocacy:

• Are engaged in advocacy work focused on LGBTQ equality and liberation, with a heavy emphasis on leaders from states that lie outside of LGBTQ power centers
• Reflect the racial and gender diversity of our communities, as well as a diversity of change strategies
• Have been engaged in advocacy work for at least 3 years
• Play a decision-making/leadership role within their organization
• Demonstrate personal/professional readiness for new leadership skills
• Have experience with cross-strategy collaboration and desire to strengthen such work
• Can commit to attend both 5-day retreats (May 17-21, New Mexico; Nov 15-19, New York) and participate in follow-up peer coaching and assignments

Costs

The actual value of the program, including two residential retreats, professional coaching and travel stipends, is approximately $10,000 per person. The fellowship is supported by Gill Foundation and Arcus Foundation.

The 2010-2011 program includes a modest participation fee based on the sliding scale below. Please contact Bernie Schlotfeldt with any questions.

For organizations with budgets…	The Fellowship Participant Fee is…
Under $500,000	$500
Between $500,000-1 million	$1000
Between $1-2 million	$1500
Above $2 million	$2000

Application Process

Applications are closed for our 2010 program. Please stay tuned for upcoming offerings! 

Contact

If you have questions about the Fellowship for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Advocacy, please contact:

Bernie Schlotfeldt, Program Manager
(510) 524-4000 x 105 | lgbtq@rockwoodleadership.org