Developing Leaders. Transforming Communities.
As a Change Maker Fellow, you will join a carefully selected cohort of leaders committed to creating measurable impact.
Our Mission
The Change Makers Leadership Academy exists to intentionally develop leaders with the character, judgment, knowledge, and practical competencies needed to strengthen organizations, cultivate people, and create lasting impact. Through executive education, coaching, mentorship, and applied learning, we prepare leaders to navigate complexity, build healthy cultures, make principled decisions, and fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to them with excellence.
Our Vision
We envision a future where leadership is no longer assumed, but intentionally developed. As the premier leadership institution, we are committed to preparing leaders who understand that leadership is a responsibility requiring continual learning, disciplined practice, and unwavering integrity. Through that commitment, we seek to strengthen organizations, cultivate future leaders, and help build communities where people and institutions flourish together.
Our Guiding Principles
Leadership is learned.
Leadership is not an innate talent reserved for a select few. It is a discipline that develops through intentional learning, thoughtful reflection, practical experience, and continuous growth.
Character shapes competence.
Knowledge and technical skill matter, but they are most effective when grounded in integrity, humility, sound judgment, and a genuine commitment to serving others.
Leadership is a responsibility, not a reward.
Titles may recognize achievement, but leadership is measured by how faithfully we steward people, resources, opportunities, and trust.
People are the greatest investment.
Organizations achieve lasting success when they intentionally develop the potential of the people who make their mission possible.
Learning never ends.
The most effective leaders remain students. They seek new ideas, welcome constructive feedback, and continue to grow at every stage of their careers.
Impact is the standard.
Leadership should produce meaningful results. We measure success by stronger organizations, healthier cultures, empowered people, and communities that are better because of our work.
The Academy Experience
Strategic Leadership
Communication & Influence
Emotional Intelligence
Organizational Culture
Leading Change
Conflict & Decision Making
Team Development
Impact & Legacy
Network Building & Expansion
Who Should Apply
The Change Makers Leadership Academy is designed for leaders who are ready to move beyond simply holding a position and become more intentional about the impact they create.
We welcome emerging and established leaders from nonprofit organizations, business, higher education, healthcare, philanthropy, ministry, government, entrepreneurship, and community-based organizations. Titles may differ, but our Fellows share something in common: they understand that leadership carries both opportunity and responsibility.
You should consider applying if you are ready to strengthen how you lead, expand your capacity to influence people and organizations, navigate complexity with greater confidence, and translate vision into meaningful action.
The Academy is especially suited for leaders who are:
• Currently leading people, programs, organizations, initiatives, or communities
• Preparing for greater leadership responsibility
• Navigating organizational growth, transition, or change
• Seeking to strengthen their strategic thinking, communication, and decision-making
• Committed to developing stronger teams and healthier organizational cultures
• Interested in creating measurable impact beyond their individual role
• Willing to examine their own leadership honestly and continue growing
• Committed to using their influence in ways that strengthen organizations and communities
You do not need to have reached the highest level of your profession to be a Change Maker. You do need to be willing to grow, contribute, be challenged, and put what you learn into practice.
We are looking for leaders with potential, purpose, and a genuine commitment to impact.
If you are ready to become more intentional about how you lead and more consequential in the change you create, we invite you to apply.
This Is Where Leaders Are Built.
The Work of Leadership
One of the most interesting observations I have made throughout my career is that we spend a great deal of time preparing people for their professions, but comparatively little time preparing them for leadership. A physician spends years learning the science and practice of medicine. An attorney studies the law before representing clients. Educators are trained to teach. Engineers learn to design systems that are safe, functional, and sustainable. Yet in almost every profession, leadership is treated differently. People are promoted because they perform well, and from that point forward they are expected to lead.
For many, that expectation becomes one of the greatest challenges of their professional lives.
Leading people requires a very different set of competencies than performing a job well. Technical expertise may create opportunities for advancement, but leadership demands something more. It requires sound judgment, emotional intelligence, effective communication, strategic thinking, the ability to build trust, and the wisdom to make decisions that consider both immediate needs and long-term consequences. Those competencies rarely develop by accident. They are cultivated intentionally over time through study, reflection, experience, and a willingness to continue learning.
That reality became increasingly clear to me as I worked with leaders across higher education, nonprofit organizations, healthcare, philanthropy, ministry, and the corporate sector. Although their organizations varied in size and purpose, the challenges they faced were remarkably similar. They were responsible for making difficult decisions, leading people through uncertainty, developing healthy organizational cultures, managing conflict, building partnerships, and producing meaningful results. Most understood the importance of those responsibilities. Few had ever been given the opportunity to intentionally develop the knowledge and skills required to fulfill them effectively.
I have often wondered why leadership has become the one responsibility we expect people to learn while they are doing it. We would never expect an architect to design a building without first understanding the principles that support it. We would never encourage a physician to learn surgery through trial and error. Yet organizations routinely place people in leadership positions and assume that experience alone will prepare them for responsibilities that affect employees, students, clients, congregants, and entire communities.
Experience is an invaluable teacher, but experience by itself is not enough. Experience tells us what happened. Reflection helps us understand why it happened. Learning provides new ways of thinking. Practice allows us to apply those lessons with greater confidence and competence. Leadership grows through the combination of all four.
That philosophy serves as the foundation of the Change Makers Leadership Academy.
Our work is centered on developing leaders who understand both the responsibility and the discipline of leadership. Participants strengthen their ability to think strategically, communicate effectively, build trust, navigate organizational change, develop high-performing teams, resolve conflict, make ethical decisions, and create cultures where people and organizations can thrive together. Just as importantly, they learn to lead with humility, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to continuous growth.
Leadership is not measured solely by the position we hold or the authority we possess. Its true measure is found in the lives we influence, the organizations we strengthen, and the opportunities we create for others. When leadership is approached with intentionality, its impact extends well beyond the individual leader. It shapes institutions, strengthens communities, and creates conditions in which people can do their very best work.
That is the work of leadership, and it is work worthy of our very best effort.