"My personal goals for the program were well exceeded. My hope was to leave the program with a few practical tools to approach my work. I did not anticipate such a transformation of self and the feeling of authentic connection with my fellow emerging leaders. Emerging Leaders has shown me that there are no hard rules to what “leadership” should look or feel like. Instead of contorting ourselves into pretzels and fitting ourselves in outdated or irrelevant models, we should embrace our strengths and innate skills and focus on what we do well. The real challenge is to show ourselves and to be courageous in this process."

Amy Chou

Program Officer at New York Women’s Foundation

“Emerging Leaders has changed my view in that I now see that leadership and management is much more based on sensitive observations of people and the dynamics between them, and carefully guiding everyone along into a place of trust and openness – and only then can smart ideas, great work, and ultimately hard decisions come together to support the mission of a non-profit. The end results cannot happen without acknowledging human nature!”

Elizabeth Ferguson

Associate at Community Programs, Carnegie Hall

“This program was well structured, impressively implemented, and an enormous benefit to me. There is nothing comparable as far as I know, especially when it comes to cost. To achieve similar results, I’m sure that a person would have to invest thousands of dollars in workshops (and travel!) or begin an MBA program or certificate – again, for thousands of dollars.”

Brielle Welzer

Communications Specialist at Green Seal, Inc.

“AlumniCorps Emerging Leaders is one of the few management leadership programs available to promising non-profit and public sector employees. It’s a great way to learn skills and techniques that can help you throughout the rest of your career – if you’re already managing people and can imagine yourself being a leader of an organization or in the field, you should definitely apply.”

Yuh Wen Ling

Policy Analyst at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

“Emerging Leaders has given me a newfound awareness of the social and emotional components of effective leadership and management. I see now that leadership is very different from management and it requires being self-aware and self-managing in order to be done effectively. I’ve also learned that with practice, anyone can be a leader because the necessary skills can be taught.”

Andrew Protain

User Experience Research Manager at DonorsChoose.org

“I established an incredible network of peers that I trust and feel very comfortable reaching out to for whatever reason. I had the opportunity to hear from top-notch leaders in the field who shared very personal and honest insight on their own work that pushed my thinking and perspectives about leadership. The emotional and social intelligence framework throughout the sessions also helped me to come to terms with what I can and cannot change about myself and ways to challenge myself toward adopting the leadership styles I want in my repertoire.”

Reina Utsunomiya

Director Policy and Operations at New York Department of Education

“Emerging Leaders demonstrated to me the tremendous value of peer coaching from nonprofit peers in different organizations and the importance of creating opportunities for nonprofit leaders to connect with their peers. The program also redefined for me the possibilities for individuals at my organization to make time for and rapidly grow because of focused professional development.”

Kathryn Lusk

Director of Project Management at KaBoom!