MILWAUKEE, WIS – Public Allies, a national nonprofit committed to advancing social justice and racial equity by engaging and activating the leadership of all people, is thrilled to announce the launch of its class of 2022-23 apprenticeship cohorts. Over the next 10 months, emerging leaders from across the country will work in tandem with one another and their local communities, to discover, develop, and leverage their potential, while learning how to apply creative problem-solving skills to lead systemic change. For the 2022-2023 service year, the following Public Allies sites will be operating its signature 10-month AmeriCorps apprenticeship program: Arizona, Central Florida, Chicago, Connecticut, Delaware, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Mexico, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, and Wisconsin (Milwaukee and Racine/Kenosha).
“At Public Allies, we know from almost 30 years of experience that everyone has the capacity to be fully self-actualized humans and leaders, but that systems have long been designed to exclude some and elevate others,” says Jenise Terrell, Interim CEO of Public Allies and PA alum, class of ‘98. “Most specifically, early-to-mid career Black and brown leaders are consistently denied opportunities to exercise their voice and power in decisions being made for their own communities. Our mission at Public Allies is to change that narrative by providing opportunities to those closest to the challenges and often overlooked.”
Public Allies values and upholds the principles of proximate leadership and has been recruiting and training diverse, proximate leaders for decades, with more than 70% of them serving in the communities from which they hail. Public Allies cultivates local talent – from often marginalized backgrounds – and invests in them to become leaders driving systemic, equity-focused change within their own communities.
“We have seen time and again the benefits of intentionally supporting and investing in the leadership capacity and networks of these emerging and existing BIPOC leaders,” says Ashley Lee, Chief Programs Officer, Public Allies. “At this critical moment in history, we have an imperative to build on this foundation to further expand our reach and impact. We want to see a significant increase in BIPOC and LGBTQ+ leaders in positions of influence across the non-profit, public and philanthropic sectors.”
Following an organizational restructure, operations in the following cities remain temporarily paused for the upcoming service year: Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami, New Orleans, New York, North Carolina, San Francisco/Silicon Valley, Twin Cities, and Washington D.C. Public Allies remains committed to these communities, especially to the thousands of Alumni who hail from and continue to serve in these places. Public Allies is exploring the relaunch of programs in these communities in coming years after a thorough and intentional review of infrastructure and capabilities.
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About Public Allies
Public Allies is a 501c3 national nonprofit committed to advancing social justice and racial equity by engaging and activating the leadership of all people. Our mission is to create a just and equitable society and the diverse leadership to sustain it. Since 1992, we have been a pioneer in recruiting and developing equity-focused change-makers. We have built a powerful network of more than 8000 proximate leaders who bridge races, ethnicities, socioeconomic levels, and cultures. Holding roles ranging from elected officials to heads of foundations and organizations, they reflect system re-designers, policy shapers, builders of inclusive cultures, and transformers of cultures – ones that accept, value, and view differences that we all bring to the table as strengths.