AED Programs Put the 'Fellow'in Fellowship

AED Programs Put the ‘Fellow’ In Fellowship

According to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, one of the primary definitions of the word fellowship is “a community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience.” For fellows in programs directed by the AED Center for Leadership Development, this definition transcends all others.

Through orientations, workshops, retreats, conferences, online chats, and meetings, the Center strives in its programs to foster a sense of community among its fellows. As a result, the fellows’ leadership skills are strengthened and they develop networks that provide valuable support long after the formal fellowship ends.

Fellows networking

AED's fellows build community and strengthen their leadership skills by participating in networking events.


Cultivating New Leaders

Since 1999, the New Voices fellowship program, funded by the Ford Foundation, has helped nonprofit organizations in the United States recruit and retain new talent. Through salary-support grants, New Voices helps these groups cultivate and strengthen the leadership potential of creative and diverse new leaders.

“The New Voices program empowers the fellows to share sustainable lifestyle habits so we can weather the personal challenges that activists encounter that often lead to burn-out,” said Loulena Miles, a New Voices Fellow. Miles is a staff attorney for Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment), a watchdog group for the Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratory, a nuclear weapons facility in Livermore, California.

“The fellowship program continually challenges us to think expansively about our work and how it connects to the work of other activists around the country. We are encouraged to network and build alliances within the community,” she said.

Shared Visions

AED receives support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to implement the Kellogg Southern Africa Leadership (KSAL)  program, which aims to improve the well-being of people in that region by increasing the capacity of people at the local level to improve their lives.

"We share the same vision and mission, which is using our education and leadership skills to make life better for our communities."
—Godfrey Khumalo, KSAL Fellow
“We share the same vision and mission, which is using our education and leadership skills to make life better for our communities,” said Godfrey Khumalo, a lecturer at the University of Swaziland.

Through the KSAL program, Khumalo is studying for his doctorate in range science at New Mexico University. He hopes to work with students and community farmers in Swaziland to develop better ways of using available pastures and keeping them from being overgrazed. This is especially important in Swaziland, where beef cattle are a major export and production has had a negative impact on the land.

“I’ve learned that we all face the same challenges of being more productive on the ground, knowing what is wanted, and getting it done in an efficient manner,” he said.

‘Network of Support’

According to Sandra Lauffer, Senior Vice President and Director of the AED Leadership and Institutional Development Group, creating a community among fellows in the same program is the most effective way of preparing them to become outstanding leaders in their respective fields.

She said: “Whether in the United States or in Africa, these fellows will expertly address the challenges they find in their communities because of this network of support.”
Emerging Leaders: In Their Own Words

Fellows in the AED Center for Leadership Development programs have their own unique stories to tell about where they have come from, the work they are doing now, and their plans for the future. Each of them has learned something different from their experiences as fellows. The following are brief profiles of seven fellows participating in the New Voices program or the Kellogg Southern Africa Leadership program. In their own words, they describe what their experience has meant to them.
Read the whole story.

For more information on New Voices, contact Ken Williams.
For more information on Kellogg Southern Africa Leadership Programs, contact Phillip Hesser.
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