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What is LEAD?
The LEAD (Leadership, Equity, And Diversity) Award celebrates outstanding risk-takers and innovators in the philanthropic community who, through their determination and leadership, have increased funding for programs that promote gender equity and diversity. When selecting award recipients, the committee seeks individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to social change and who actively address gender, race, class, (dis)ability, age, and sexual orientation when making grants. The committee looks for individuals who have succeeded in mobilizing philanthropic resources to support programs that benefit women and girls.
The LEAD Award seeks to shine a spotlight on bold and inspiring bodies of work marked by specific significant accomplishments—efforts that not only intentionally benefit diverse women and girls, but also recognize the critical role they play in bringing about broader social change.
Generously endowed by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1997, the LEAD award was created in response to the historic Platform for Action that emerged from the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. The award, and the work it honors, acts as a catalyst, inspiring and energizing other grantmakers to pay closer attention to the role and impact of diversity and gender in their work.
A Proud Tradition
Since its inception, the LEAD Award has been privileged to honor 12 exceptional grantmakers. A complete list of previous award winners is featured inside the back cover of this brochure.
We now invite you to nominate an exceptional leader to join this list of esteemed honorees. Through your nomination, you can acknowledge the work of a trustee, staff member, or colleague who has made a critical difference in achieving gender equity and diversity and creating broader social change.
The 2008 LEAD Award recipient will receive both a beautifully framed art piece and $10,000 that he or she can use for ongoing professional development and enrichment in the fields of philanthropy and women’s rights or for a project that mobilizes philanthropic resources on behalf of women and girls. The award presentation will take place in May during Philanthropy’s Vision: A Leadership Summit, in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The summit, sponsored by the Council on Foundations, is an unprecedented gathering of philanthropic leaders from around the world.
Award Criteria
The criteria for this award are based on the principles that gender and diversity lenses are critical to effective grantmaking and to a social change agenda. In reviewing nominations, members of the award selection committee will look for individuals who have demonstrated:
- creativity and risk-taking in mobilizing philanthropic resources strategically and deliberately on behalf of women and girls
- a willingness to undertake activities that were a “stretch” beyond the nominee’s responsibilities as a grantmaker, trustee, etc.
- strategic and deliberate efforts to integrate gender, race, class, (dis)ability, age, and sexual orientation into their work and the work of their organization as a whole
- significant impact, through their work, on grantees, institutional culture, and/or the field of philanthropy
- courage and leadership in designing grantmaking programs with the aim of achieving social change
Eligibility
- Candidates must be currently active in the field of philanthropy, though they do not have to hold a paid position.
- Individuals in family philanthropy, corporate giving programs, and public, private, operating, and community foundations are eligible.
- Both women and men are eligible.
- Staff and trustees are eligible.
- Individuals previously nominated may be nominated again, but new nomination materials must be submitted.
Not eligible are:
- Current Women & Philanthropy Advisory Committee members
- W.K. Kellogg board members and staff
- Council on Foundations board members and staff
- Nonprofit development staff and grant writers
The Selection Process
A committee of seven to nine philanthropic professionals will use a two-step process to review the nominations and select the winner. During the first part of the process, the committee will evaluate all submissions, select up to ten candidates for further consideration, and ask these candidates to supply additional information. (Note: Although a third party must submit the initial nomination, these finalists will be asked to provide additional information themselves.) In the second tier, the committee will review the submissions of these ten finalists and may elect to conduct phone interviews with up to three of them. Based on its findings, the committee will select the award recipient.
The selection committee’s decision is final and is not subject to review by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Women & Philanthropy project staff, the Women & Philanthropy corporate board, or the Council on Foundations’ board. The selection process will be coordinated by the award program staff so that the committee members’ identities can be kept confidential.
The LEAD Award is generously endowed by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Vision. Action. Leadership. Change. Where would the philanthropic community be without the risk-takers and innovators who exemplify these qualities and who serve as the champions for gender equity, diversity, and effectiveness?
We owe a debt of thanks to the individuals who transform our dreams into reality. That's why Women & Philanthropy created the LEAD Award. It's our way of saying thanks to philanthropy's best, boldest, and brightest.
