The Annie E. Casey Foundation The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Rising Leaders for Results Selection Criteria

The Ris­ing Lead­ers for Results Fel­low­ship seeks tal­ent­ed, ambi­tious young pro­fes­sion­als ear­ly in their careers from across the coun­try who desire to grow per­son­al­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly as results- and equi­ty-based lead­ers. The Foun­da­tion seeks can­di­dates between the ages of 24 and 31 a) who are work­ing to improve their com­mu­ni­ties and the lives of indi­vid­u­als and fam­i­lies, and b) who want to ​“up their game” and have increas­ing impact both in the short term and over the arc of their careers. While the Fel­low­ship strives for a very diverse class, it is not sole­ly for lead­ers of col­or, so race and eth­nic­i­ty are not selec­tion criteria.

To be eli­gi­ble for the Ris­ing Lead­ers for Results Fel­low­ship an appli­cant must be:

  • Be 24 to 31 years of age (on Nov. 14, 2023, the start of the Fellowship).
  • Work in one of the following: 
    • a non-prof­it, pub­lic or phil­an­thropic orga­ni­za­tion that serves or seeks to improve out­comes for chil­dren, youth, fam­i­lies or communities;
    • a for-prof­it community‑, fam­i­ly- or youth-focused orga­ni­za­tion; or
    • self-employed focused on com­mu­ni­ty, fam­i­ly or youth.
  • Work­ing in the Unit­ed States on domes­tic issues at the local, state, region­al and/​or nation­al levels.
  • Be able to attend all pro­gram sem­i­nars and activ­i­ties dur­ing the pro­gram term of Novem­ber 2023 through July 2025.
  • Have the full sup­port of their super­vi­sor and organization.
  • Be nei­ther employed by nor seek­ing employ­ment with the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion dur­ing the pro­gram selec­tion peri­od or the term of the program.
  • Be unre­lat­ed as an imme­di­ate fam­i­ly mem­ber to a trustee or employ­ee of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
  • Have no plans to par­tic­i­pate in anoth­er lead­er­ship pro­gram or run for pub­lic office dur­ing the pro­gram term of Novem­ber 2023 through July 2025 (to avoid sched­ul­ing con­flicts and oth­er com­pet­ing commitments).

Addi­tion­al­ly, suc­cess­ful appli­cants will have the fol­low­ing characteristics:

  • a desire to make and lead change that cre­ates equi­table oppor­tu­ni­ties for chil­dren, youth, fam­i­lies and com­mu­ni­ties to thrive;
  • a desire to act with urgency and extend their lead­er­ship and authority;
  • a will­ing­ness and open­ness to learn­ing, indi­vid­u­al­ly and with others;
  • a desire to exam­ine and explore all dimen­sions of one’s lead­er­ship, includ­ing the per­son­al expe­ri­ences and effects of race, class and cul­ture that got them where they are, and sup­port or hin­der them in advanc­ing in their leadership;
  • an appre­ci­a­tion for both data and nar­ra­tive as evi­dence of where things stand and indi­ca­tion of what can be done;
  • an under­stand­ing that achiev­ing equi­table oppor­tu­ni­ties for all chil­dren, fam­i­lies and com­mu­ni­ties requires address­ing deeply entrenched sys­temic and struc­tur­al inequities;
  • a will­ing­ness to engage in dif­fi­cult con­ver­sa­tions around race, bias and men­tal mod­els; and
  • an open­ness to self-reflec­tion and a will­ing­ness to explore their blind spots and areas of unknow­ing, test assump­tions and receive feed­back and coaching.