How Social Change Organizations Create Leadership Capital
Amid calls for less hierarchical leadership models, RCLA’s research offers a unique window into nonprofits that are effectively practicing more collective forms of leadership and how leadership happens as they produce social change in communities. The leadership of these social change organizations creates pockets of abundance where there is scarcity and shapes public spaces for deliberation, contestation and collective action that transform thinking, policy and systems.
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The Science of Teamwork: What Matters in Teams & Team Leaders
The US military, airline industry, health care sector and nuclear power industry are all making major investments in understanding and improving team performance. But, what do we know about teamwork, team leaders and team effectiveness after decades of research? At an RCLA event on March 22, Dr. Eduardo Salas, the University Trustee Chair and Pegasus Professor of Psychology at the University of Central Florida, offered insight into six hallmarks of high-performing teams as well as research findings about what effective teams do, feel and think.
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NYU Wagner & UCLA Luskin Partner on a Social Justice Initiative
NYU Wagner and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs have partnered to develop an approach for graduate schools of public affairs and administration to equip future public service leaders to tackle inequality and advance social justice in the US and globally. As part of this work supported by the Ford Foundation, the schools held day-long dialogues with nearly 30 schools on the East and West Coasts in March as part of a joint Social Justice Initiative in Public Service Graduate Programs.
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Project Teams Create Results You Can Use: Applications Now Being Accepted for NYU Wagner Capstone Program
Does your organization need to evaluate programs, write impact statements, design initiatives, conduct an assessment or identify key opportunities for growth? The NYU Wagner Capstone Program connects teams of talented graduate students over an academic year with nonprofits, government agencies, health institutions, urban planning firms, and international NGOs. The deadline for proposals is May 27, 2011.
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RCLA's Global Social Change Leadership Institute offers college and master's students and recent college graduates an intensive, two-week immersion in building the practical skills and knowledge to advance social justice initiatives in their communities. Hands-on workshops, lectures with senior faculty and experts, and site visits throughout New York City focus on topics including: Community Organizing, Social Entrepreneurship, Designing Effective Volunteer and Staff Trainings, and Using Social Media for Social Justice.
RCLA faculty member Erica G. Foldy conducted a session for NYU's Center for Teaching Excellence on Tackling Bias in the Classroom. Ninety members of the NYU faculty, instructors and adjuncts registered for the session, which included discussions of unconscious bias, as measured by the Implicit Association Test, an online instrument based at Harvard, as well as discussions of two mini-cases based on real classroom incidents; March 24, 2011.
RCLA faculty member David Elcott presented on “Baby Boomers, Public Service and Minority Communities,” at the Jewish Federations of North America national conference for executives from 40 Jewish communities, March 16, 2011. Dr. Elcott’s research on Baby Boomers was also the subject of a recent article in the Jewish Journal.
As part of building a global network of leadership experts, RCLA hosts visitors from around the world to learn more about our work and explore opportunities for collaboration. Recent guests have included: Professor Min You from the Graduate School of Governance at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea, who is developing a leadership center at his university; Ana Maria Tanca, international coordinator at Universidad Casa Grande in Guayaquil, Ecuador, a member school of the Inter-American Network of Public Administration Education; and Women’s Link Executive Director Viviana Waisman and Program Coordinator Monica Roa, whose organization is based in Madrid, Spain and Bogota, Colombia.
News You Can Use: The College Women’s Ethical Leadership Retreat from the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership is a weekend-long program in a beautiful facility in upstate Ancramdale, New York. In a personalized group of ten or more, participants will be guided by Woodhull professionals and scholars in personal development workshops, group discussions, and introspective work. Job seeking strategies, interview skills, public speaking and identity/voice workshops are just some of topics to be discussed. The Woodhull Institute is committed to making it possible for all women to participate, so they offer flexible payment plans, limited scholarships, and need-based financial aid; April 29- May 1, 2011.
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RCLA's Global Social Change Leadership Institute offers university and master's-level graduate students and recent college graduates a chance to develop cutting-edge knowledge and skills to advance social justice in their communities and to build a network of other social activists. Through hands-on workshops, lectures and site visits in NYC, the rigorous curriculum focuses on topics including: Community Organizing, Social Entrepreneurship, Leadership Skills and Using Social Media for Social Justice. A tuition discount is offered for those who apply by March 7, 2011.
The Surdna Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation in New York City that fosters just and sustainable communities in the United States, invited RCLA Faculty Director Sonia Ospina to present to the Foundation’s Board on February 7 on trends in the leadership development field.
RCLA congratulates Jennifer Dodge, a research associate at the Center, for successfully defending her dissertation and earning a PhD from NYU Wagner. Dr. Dodge has accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy at Rockefeller College at SUNY Albany. She will focus on the role of nonprofit organizations in contemporary governance and will begin in September 2011. She will remain involved in RCLA's research and programs as a fellow.
News You Can Use: The John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University will host “Leadership: A Dialogue,” with a distinguished panel that includes Mr. John C. Whitehead; Ambassador Williams Luers; Major Jon Martin from the US Army; and graduate students Florence Dennis and Sunghyun Lee. Professor Michael Reuter of the Stillman School Center for Leadership Development at Seton Hall University will moderate the event. March 21, 2011
