Invest in people at the heart of change

 

Winning the transformative, structural changes we need requires a deep belief and investment in people, organizations, and their collective power.

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Theo Rigby

Leading Boldly, Dreaming Big

People at the heart of social movements are transforming our world to be more loving, equitable, and just.

They are tackling societal challenges with little investment in their leadership or their organizations.

It’s time to reimagine how we invest in and cultivate leadership as an essential ingredient for change.

Leaders like them

Make our world more loving, equitable and just.

Omar Garcia, Transgender Law Center

Gabriela Hasbun

Leaders like them

Accelerate racial justice

Leaders from MICOP, Healing the Soul

Amori Photography

Leaders like her

Tackle some of the biggest social issues we face today

Imani Rupert-Gordon,
National Center for Lesbian Rights

HOW IT WORKs

FLEXIBLE LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Our Flagship Model

MULTI-YEAR GRANT

Flexible funding for leadership and organizational capacity.

CAPACITY COACH

A trusted capacity coach who provides support and thought partnership.

PEER LEARNING

Dynamic opportunities for peer learning, innovation and reflection.

A focus on racial equity and relationships is centered in everything we do.

Our Mission

What we believe

The LeadersTrust believes that a deep investment in the leadership and organizational capacity of change makers is critical for success. By delivering responsive, long-term, high-touch investment in the people at the heart of organizations, we unlock the radical imagination and inherent power of leaders, organizations, and movements to achieve transformative change.

Jamie Thrower

About us

“This support was instrumental in infusing my work with resilience...there is really no doing this without deep solidarity. Investment in leadership, investment in organizations matter.”

– Cynthia Buiza, California Immigrant Policy Center

At the start, we were a California based organization with a budget of a million. Now we are the largest national Trans led organization in the country with a budget of $5 million. We’ve shifted our priorities to center racial and economic justice, something that would not have been possible without these resources for coaching, trainings and outside consultants.

– Kris Hayashi, Transgender Law Center

Theo Rigby

“If you really want to see concrete progress in developing a bench of leaders of color, then leadership development is essential. Not just giving the skills to be leaders, while obviously important, it was really helpful in convincing me that I wanted to step up to that leadership.”

– Janson Wu, GLAD

Jamie Thrower

“No matter how urgent and how dynamic the particular moment is, our organizations are in this for the long haul. We have to make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves, taking care of our staff, taking care of our leaders, and nurturing and growing our organizations."

– Reverend Deborah Lee, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

Theo Rigby

“One of the most important changes brought about because of this support was in budget forecasting. What kind of leadership do we need to keep this program viable and relevant, especially nowadays where the demands are greater given the political climate?”

– Sandra Gutierrez, Abriendo Puertas

Sabrina Wong

Together, we are driving more equitable and effective investments in leaders, organizations, and movements.

The LeadersTrust partners with foundations across the country that have a deep commitment to addressing some of our most pressing issues:

WORKER JUSTICE

IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

LGBT EQUALITY

CHILDREN & FAMILIES

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

GENDER & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

Funding partners:

Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
Heising-Simons Foundation
The David & Lucile Packard Foundation
The Grove Foundation
The Collaborative for Gender & Reproductive Equity
The James Irvine Foundation

“The Haas, Jr. Fund’s longstanding investments in leadership reflect our belief in people power as the fuel for social change. We are honored to join with other funders to launch this bold, collaborative effort to provide diverse leaders and their organizations with the support they need to succeed in the essential work of advancing equality and justice.”

– Cathy Cha, The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund

Tue Nam Ton

“We partner with the LeadersTrust because when you build the capacity of organizations, you help them to optimize their ability to serve their communities, in an effective and sustainable way.”

– Jose Santos, The Grove Foundation

@CarlanTapp / Question of Power.

“The Irvine Foundation’s Fair Work initiative invests in innovative and effective leaders empowering workers throughout California. Backing their leadership with resources, as well as strategy support and opportunities to reflect and share learning are invaluable to ensuring all working Californians are treated with dignity and respect.”

– Virginia Mosqueda, The James Irvine Foundation

“When you build the capacity of organizations, you can feel more confident that your programmatic investments will have impact.”

– Holly Kreider, Heising-Simons Foundation

“As a result of the racial equity work one of my clients has done, their board composition changed significantly. They moved past training, and set to changing the board — not just talk, but also the walk.”

– Maria Ramos-Chertok, Capacity Consultant

Lydia Daniller

Investing in leaders has a lasting impact

Started almost two decades ago as a core strategy of the Haas, Jr. Fund, the LeadersTrust has shaped investments in leaders across the country:

ORGANIZATIONS

Dollars invested in leadership

STATES

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“This support is like a secret weapon in the movement. I don’t think people realize how important this work is. You’re building so much capacity for people in the movement.”

- Michael Lewis, Equality Federation

The Leaders Trust is a proud project of the Tides Center.

Tides Center, a California nonprofit corporation exempt from taxation pursuant to §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”).
Your gift may be tax deductible pursuant to IRC §170(c).  More Information: Click Here