Women and people of color have been providing visionary leadership in the anti-violence movement since its inception. However, people of color are frequently overlooked for executive leadership development and positions within the very movement we built. The underrepresentation of leadership of color within this movement has a detrimental impact not only on emerging leaders themselves, but for the survivors of gender-based violence and their communities. Leadership of color is essential to ensure our work to end gender based violence will be culturally and linguistically responsive.  When people of color are provided access to leadership development, mentorship, and a community to learn with and from, the holistic needs of communities of color become central to our movement.

For the past eight years, the LEAP (Leadership Education and Advancement for Professionals) program has sought to demystify what it means to be an executive leader in the field and mitigate what many of us have come to call “impostor syndrome.” VALOR provides an immersive and intensive training to build skills and confidence to propel leaders of color forward in the anti-violence movement. LEAP’s primary purpose is to enhance the professional skills of leaders of color in the anti-violence field with  topics like, working with boards, finance and budgets, cultural capacity building, program development, evaluation, and sustainability, and so much more! .

We are inspired by and honored to announce and welcome LEAP’s newest cohort:

Stay tuned for more updates from LEAP Cohort 8, starting in February 2022!

VALOR will open applications to join LEAP Cohort 9 in Fall, 2022. Join the mailing list to receive updates about LEAP.