Leaders make change. The kind of change that leaders make depends on who is at the table when priorities are set and decisions are made that have an impact on the social and economic well-being of individuals and communities. Too often decisions are made that have a profound impact on people's lives without significantly including them in the decision-making process. Welfare recipients; the uninsured; students and parents -- all have only a limited voice in discussions about welfare reform; health insurance; and curriculum development and educational reform, respectively. Community leaders are underrepresented when business and government leaders meet to discuss food policy or health care policy. Large numbers of citizens and community-based organizations have had too little opportunity to make their voices heard.

The Kellogg Foundation is committed to changing this trend by investing in the development of new leaders who can be voices for positive change in how resources are allocated; decisions are made; and laws and regulations are implemented. There are a number of WKKF initiatives that have focused on developing new leadership opportunities for people of color, the underserved, youth, and women. These include:

• The Native American Higher Education Initiative, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative, and ENLACE which have sought to improve access to higher education for Native Americans, African-Americans, and Latinos respectively;
• The Community Voices and Devolution Initiatives which have provided opportunities for the underserved (e.g. the working poor, those who receive public assistance, and those who lack any or adequate health insurance) to develop their capacity to participate more effectively in policymaking discussions that affect health care and welfare decisions;
• The Michigan Community Foundations Youth Project, the College Age Youth Initiative, Kellogg Youth Initiative Partnerships, and Learning InDeed which have supported programs that develop youth leadership; and
• The Women in Philanthropy Initiative which focuses on developing the leadership of women in the field of philanthropy.

Still other initiatives have focused on strengthening community leadership capacity.

• The Grassroots Leadership Initiative connected "disadvantaged, disenfranchised, underrepresented and overlooked constituencies" to appropriate programs to develop their leadership skills and encourage their growth and success.
• The Comprehensive Community-Based Leadership Initiative supported community colleges to develop the leadership capacity of the communities where they were located.
• Mid-South Delta Initiative is mapping and networking leadership programs in the Mid-South Delta region to strengthen that region's leadership capacity.
• Managing Information with Rural America supported community teams in rural areas to enhance economic and community development.

Each of these initiatives has contributed to the Kellogg Foundation's knowledge about how to develop and support the emergence of new leadership voices; however this knowledge is not well documented. Because there is an emerging consensus among program staff at the Kellogg Foundation that successfully engaging new leadership voices, especially youth, is key to catalyzing and sustaining change, WKKF's Leadership Cross-Cutting Theme Steering Committee identified the topic of "engaging new leadership voices for catalyzing and sustaining community change" as its learning priority for 2001. This project is part of a larger learning effort on the part of the Leadership CCT to better understand the multiple factors that contribute to creating positive sustainable change in communities.

Together with the Leadership CCT, Development Guild/DDI, a consulting firm committed to strengthening non-profit leadership, designed a research strategy for exploring this topic. For a discussion of our methodology see Appendix A. It is our hope that this learning project will provide WKKF program teams and grantees with an opportunity to learn from one another and to use that knowledge to improve and expand their efforts to develop emerging leaders.

The report is divided into seven sections.

Section 1. Who are new leadership voices for catalyzing and sustaining community change and what assets do they bring to the table? New leadership voices for catalyzing and sustaining community change come from many sectors of the community. They include:

• Those who are socially and economically marginalized and who are often overlooked as potential leaders - this includes youth and many other segments of the population whose capacity to lead is seriously undermined in the present economic and political environment;
• Those who have emerged as leaders in their communities and are committed to leading change and creating opportunities for impact, but who may not yet be present at the leadership tables where decisions are being made, resources distributed, and policies set that impact people in communities; and,
• Those leaders who may be very visible in professional and policymaking arenas but whose commitment to working with leaders in community is only just emerging.

Every new leadership voice brings unique knowledge, experiences, and perspectives to the table. Identifying and valuing these assets enables leaders from diverse backgrounds to work together more effectively.

Section 2. In what venues are new leadership voices being supported and developed? We identify five venues in which new leadership voices are being supported and developed: educational institutions, grassroots leadership development organizations, service organizations, advocacy organizations, and foundation-sponsored initiatives. For each of these venues we highlight programs or initiatives that were described to us, along with the approach and strategies that each program or initiative uses.

Section 3. What strategies are being used to support and develop the engagement of new leadership voices? We distinguish seven categories of strategies that support the engagement of new leaders- enabling strategies, experiential strategies, mentoring strategies, skill development strategies, relationship-building strategies, knowledge and information development strategies; and resource development strategies.

Section 4. What impacts are new leaders having? We focus first on changes that have occurred for individuals who may never have thought about themselves as leaders before. Important changes include developing leadership confidence and becoming positional leaders. Without these changes, other impacts would not be possible. We go on to discuss how emerging leaders are challenging the perspectives and attitudes of existing leaders, changing policies and institutional practices, building communities, expanding resources, and transforming fields.

Section 5. What challenges must be addressed to effectively support and sustain new leaders? As communities invest in developing and supporting the emergence of new leadership voices they face a number of challenges, including: entrenched prejudices and inequalities, the need to continually renew and expand new leadership voices, institutional and policy barriers that make it difficult to engage new voices, and the resistance of existing leaders.

Section 6. How can foundations best support the emergence of new leaders? Foundations play a critical role in supporting community leadership development. In this section we share what grantees feel has worked well in their relationship with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and ways that they believe foundation support can be enhanced.

Section 7. Conclusion. In conclusion we identify ten principles for supporting the emergence of new leadership voices. When applied, we believe these principles will strengthen the motivation of emerging leaders to engage in change efforts, support their development, and increase their impact.

Acknowledgement
Executive Summary

2. Sara Gould and Jeff Malachowsky, Why Invest in Grassroots Leadership Development? In Grassroots Leadership Development: A Guide for Grassroots Leaders, Support Organizations, and Funders.
3. A previous Leadership Cross-Cutting Theme Learning Project focused on how community-institution partnerships catalyze change by engaging diverse participants who together make decisions and take action that respond to community priorities and needs.