The issue of leadership is typically at the center of most conversations related to tackling the challenges of advancing the most diverse society in the country; California. Who leads, what they lead, how they lead, and where they lead are among the most important, yet least acted upon issues facing the changing ethnic and generational demographics of 21st-century California.

Scott Syphax as the president and CEO of the Nehemiah Social Enterprise created a program aimed at dealing with the all too common comment: “I would love to hire or appoint more young diverse professionals into leadership, but I don’t know any or can’t find any that are qualified.”

A phenomenon that happens in far too many metropolitan areas is that once a power structure within a sector, geography, socioeconomic group identifies an effective leader from a heretofore unrepresented constituency that individual tends to be placed on the short list for every opening for employment or appointment within that given sphere of influence. While extremely beneficial to the identified individual, this phenomenon does nothing to bring effective scale in diversifying the leadership class.

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The basic premise of the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program (NELP) is that Sacramento needs a resource that provides a diverse ‘bench’ of young professionals prepared to take over as the current cohort of leaders ages into retirement. While this community has been identified by the 2000 U.S. Census as one of, if not the, most diverse cities in the nation, there is a disparity between positions occupied by people of color at the tables of leadership and their numbers in the population.

In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell references the precursors of success: timing, opportunity and practice. His explorations of the history of successful people shows that, rather than simply being the recipients of “good luck,” his subjects had been born at the right time with unusually available resources and the will and opportunity to spend time in practice. NELP gives its participants the resources, education and practice time that are needed for success.

Lead the Change: Support Diverse Leadership with NELP

Your Support Builds Equitable Leadership for a More Inclusive Future.