On the heels of volumes of sobering research on the so-called "leadership deficit", it's nice to see some hope on the horizon.  Over the past month, I've gotten to know some amazing nonprofit leaders who are ready to take up the torch in our nonprofit community.  You've heard it all before:  There will be a significant deficit of executive leadership available to the nonprofit sector in the next decade.  We will need to fill 640,000 jobs by 2016 and 75 percent of current executive directors will leave their jobs within the next five years.  Instead of stepping up to lead, about half of current young nonprofit professionals will leave the sector altogether.  This is the conventional wisdom of the nonprofit sector in a leadership crisis.  Yet, our experience shows in launching the Future Executive Directors Fellowship, that there is a HUGE interest in the field and countless capable people who are willing to replace exiting executive directors in Washington’s nonprofit community.

Yesterday, we announced the first class of the Nonprofit Roundtable Future Executive Directors Fellowship!  The selection committee benefited from an absolutely tremendous response and the selection process was very competitive - 25 promising leaders were chosen from a pool of 113 qualified applicants.  The number of high caliber candidates demonstrates that our nonprofit community has a deep well of impassioned professionals ready to lead.  

Amanda Andere is the Vice President, External Affairs and Community Resources at Reston Interfaith. Amanda is a part of movement in Northern Virginia that seeks not just to provide services; but develop people who will become leaders, activist and mentors to others.  The nonprofit sector became her passion because of the opportunity to be a change agent locally, including her role as former Chair of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce Community Services Committee. From her 9 years of  experience in fundraising and advocacy, Amanda aspires to serve as the CEO of a nonprofit that provides human services; while still addressing systemic change.  

Jennifer Freedman is the Director of Development at CASA de Maryland, the largest Latino and immigrant organization in Maryland, where she works to bridge the economic divide in Greater Washington.  Jennifer is bilingual and is fascinated by immigrants’ experiences, and has dedicated her career thus far to assisting immigrants in improving their economic well-being.  In college, she taught conversational English at a local immigrant-focused non-profit in Chicago and eventually sought an internship in the DC region, where she grew up.  Jennifer envisions being the Executive Director of a nonprofit in the region dedicated to poverty and/or immigrants’ issues. 

Clarissa Mitchell is the Director of Quality Assurance at Ardmore Enterprises, Inc. in Prince George’s County, which provides services for people with developmental disabilities.  Clarissa started her nonprofit career in 1984 through summer employment sponsored by her high school as a Receptionist at a local developmental center in a small town in Maryland.  She has worked in the non-profit sector for over 20 years and the corporate world could never compare to the feeling that she gets each and every day helping others.  Clarissa envisions being an Executive Director at a human services agency. 

Nadine Duplessy Kearns is Director of Community Relations Washington Latin Public Charter School.  She  feels passionately that people living in low-income and under resourced communities should have the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their children just as her parents were able to do. At the age of 11, Nadine moved to Boston from Haiti and attended Boston Latin School where the college counselors are very effective working with students who are the first-generation college-students. She went on to attend Harvard University and realized that she wanted to help people to improve their life rather than helping companies maximize their profit. Nadine wants to be a CEO of a nonprofit focusing on increasing educational opportunities for low income students in Washington DC area. 

Nicole Gilbert is the Deputy Director at Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaborative Council in DC.  Her nonprofit career began during graduate studies at Howard University School of Social Work.  In 1994, she was assigned to work at as a student intern in a therapeutic foster care program, where she realized how bureaucratic government systems struggle to address the basic needs of children and families.  Nicole wants to be an Executive Director at a nonprofit that helps families learn how to address crises or hardships in their lives.