October - November 2002

Bosses, Bosses Everywhere -
But Where Are Our True Leaders?

Ford Foundation Program Honors Homegrown Leaders Addressing Unmet Needs

"Follow the leader." So goes the age-old children's game. But where are they taking us and for what purpose? Surveys reveal growing public skepticism that our designated leaders possess the vision and will to address our most pressing problems. Declining faith in the effectiveness of government, corporate corruption scandals, and system-wide failures in health care, the economy and education underscore the pervasive sense that we are suffering a severe leadership drought.

Yet a closer look at our social fabric reveals the emergence of a new generation highly effective leaders who catalyze their communities to resolve longstanding economic, social and environmental challenges. Little known to those outside their own regions, these homegrown leaders don't wait for change to come from above but instead make their own from below. Pragmatic and resourceful, they lead not by giving orders but by forging relationships, giving others the strength to believe in their ability to change their world for the better.

Leadership for a Changing World, a program of the Ford Foundation in partnership with the Advocacy Institute and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, has launched a major new initiative, a nationwide six-year program to honor and support 20 exemplary grassroots leaders each year who are building better communities - often against great odds. Announced on October 1, awardees include:

• A Washington man who - through a remarkable act of civil disobedience - proved that hatchery salmon will spawn in natural habitat, turning former opponents into his most ardent supporters
  
  
• A South Carolina man whose family and neighbors were afflicted by unexplained illnesses successfully campaigned to rid his neighborhood of polluted ponds and medical wastes dumps
  
  
• A Vermont woman combated homelessness by making local home ownership more affordable

"They lead by passing the microphone, not hanging on to it," notes Joan Minieri, Co-founder of Community Voices Heard, who has herself been recognized for exemplary community leadership.

Who are these "extraordinary ordinary people" and how do they differ from the officials and celebrities we commonly call our leaders? How do they harness the energy and innovation that built this country's greatness to address our unmet needs?

The Mainstream Media Project offers you some of the country's foremost experts on leadership plus selected 2001 and 2002 Ford Leadership for a Changing World national award winners. Find out why homegrown grassroots leadership is essential to our nation's future and how concerned citizens turned community leaders are transforming the very way we think about leadership.

In Oct-Nov 2002, MMP conducted a major public education campaign on these issues. In all, we scheduled 161 radio, television, print, and internet interviews in 28 states. Of these, 11 were regionally, nationally or globally syndicated. 49 of the radio interviews occurred on commercial radio stations. Some 26 authorities were interviewed.

Guest Speakers by Topic:

Laura Chambers, Senior Director, Advocacy Institute

David Cohen, Co-Director, Advocacy Institute, Co-Author, Advocacy for Social Justice: A Global Action and Reflection Guide

Peter Edelman, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

Janet Fout, Co-Director, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

Bethany Godsoe, Associate Project Director, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University

Debra Kidd, Program Director, Regional AIDS Interfaith Network

Marian Krauskopf, Director, Center for Leadership Development, Dialogue & Inquiry, NYU Wagner School

Michael Lipsky, Senior Program Officer - Governance and Civil Society, Ford Foundation

Richard Louv, Editorial Advisor, Advocacy Institute, Columnist, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Margie McHugh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition

Joan Minieri, Board Member, Community Voices Heard

Harold Mitchell, Executive Director, ReGenesis

Milo Mumgaard, Executive Director, Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, Vice President, Appleseed Foundation Board of Directors

Sonia Ospina, Professor, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University

Donald Sampson, Executive Director, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation

Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Project Co-Director, Animating Democracy Initiative

Kathleen Sheekey, President and CEO, Advocacy Institute

Dorothy Stoneman, Founder and President, YouthBuild USA, Co-Chair, Selection Committee, Leadership for a Changing World

Brenda Torpy, Executive Director, Burlington Community Land Trust

Gustavo Torres, Executive Director, Casa of Maryland, Inc.

Phill Wilson, Founding Director, Black AIDS Institute, Executive Director - Social Policy Archives, University of Southern California

Ruth Wise, Executive Director, New Road Community Development Group of Exmore, Inc.

Marleine Bastien, Executive Director, Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Inc.

Maria Martinez, Co-Chair, Teamsters for a Democratic Union

John Parvensky, President, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, National Healthcare for the Homeless Council, President

Bill Rauch, Artistic Director, Cornerstone Theater Company