Change Agents in the American South

Connecting Leadership for Equity across the Divides of Race, Place and Generation

What is the ‘Change Agents in the American South’ project?

The Change Agents in the American South (CAAS) project is a multi-phase effort to accelerate racial and social equity outcomes in the American South by better understanding and then serving the leadership development, career support and mentorship needs of early and mid-career change agents of color (ages 25-40) working in southern grassroots communities, organized philanthropy and philanthropic support organizations. More specifically, CAAS will convene next generation grassroots leaders working in various social change arenas (i.e. advocacy, activism, community organizing and service delivery) with their similarly aged contemporaries working in philanthropy and philanthropic support organizations across various sectors (i.e. education, health, housing and employment).

The project also intentionally involves veteran, cross-generation advisors (mature grassroots leaders, philanthropy and nonprofit professionals from the Baby Boomer generation who have pioneered social change careers). This approach seeks to address the culture of separation that isolates early career change agents from the range of financial and human resources, social connections and wise perspectives important to advance their work in ways that yield progress for their communities, and are personally sustainable. Practically, CAAS will bring together an initial group of these change agents as co-design partners to develop a leadership learning design, and then field-test and refine the design at convenings with early career change agents of color and veteran cross-generation advisors in several southern cities (Atlanta, GA., Raleigh-Durham, NC and the Gulf Region).

Project History

CAAS originated from a series of informal conversations and gatherings between Generation X/Y change agents of color working in various roles in philanthropy and community change in the American South. These change agents are living out the reality of institutional observations made by nonprofit analyst Frances Kunreuther and workforce diversity scholar David Thomas that illustrate the complexities of race and generational difference in organizational relationships and institutional change.

The change agents interviewed describe a complex world of hope, paradox and contradiction. They hope for a new prioritization of racial equity, advocacy and social justice in their work and the nonprofit sector more generally. They are often frustrated with their ethnic-cultural colleagues (i.e. both Baby Boomers and their generational contemporaries) who they see as direct beneficiaries of previous social change movements (i.e. civil rights, women’s rights). Their critique is that their colleagues seem over-committed to paradigms and strategies that emphasize technical priorities like organizational effectiveness and performance measurement, while suppressing transformative dialogue about structural racism, cultural competence, power, class, pedigree and privilege - all topics critical to “effectively” and authentically engaging communities of color. Finally, this group describes their personal fear of being well-trained, competent and thoughtful professionals who appear to their communities of identity and cultures of origin as “sell-outs”, “company men and women” or “window dressing” in support of their institution’s public image of progressivism and cultural diversity. In terms of place, these change agents express quiet frustration with the building perception that the South (i.e. its institutions and culture) and their target audiences are dumb, backward and behind related to progressive politics and social change.

These change agents’ concerns are also career-centered and practical. They wonder how they can address their dual challenge of credibility - both learning the field’s new “technical proficiencies” (i.e. program evaluation, performance measurement) while also pushing for more social and institutional change outcomes through their position in grassroot community, grantmaking or technical assistance provision efforts. Many change agents living and working in the American South desire leadership development, mentorship and career support. However, they note that their learning interests often don’t match the content of leadership development programs or standard professional learning in their fields. These change agents seek a more integrated image and understanding of leadership. At the same time, they appreciate the precariousness of framing “leadership” solely in individual terms. These change agents described a more hopeful, inclusive image of leadership that addresses several manifestations of exclusion (racism, class-ism, sexism, ageism and heterosexism).

Practically, they also describe a desire for sufficient resources and opportunities to broaden their skills, experiences and relationships so they can:

• more effectively manage (i.e. develop, execute, fundraise and evaluate) their change program in a given institutional context;
• expand their leadership and personal agency (i.e. the quality of change agents’ analysis, action-taking, reflection and voice) around complex issues in their field;
• and boundary-span and work across and within racial, generational and cultural differences.

Finally, this group thinks about the future, especially their ability to craft a career in philanthropy and community change that is personally meaningful - offering real prospects of career advancement and financial prosperity – but also allowing them to stay culturally connected.

For more on the projects' grounding and formation, download a PDF of the draft project statement.