About the Academy

The African American Leadership Academy is designed to expand the number of African American leaders in central Ohio who excel in their professions and engage in community service. The Academy enlarges the definition of success and redefines the description of leadership to include doing well at work to do more good in the community. To that end, it assembles a group of Fellows who have the likelihood of significant accomplishments in both of those arenas. The Academy selects individuals who are ready to grow and to engage in preparation for that kind of success and that kind of leadership.

Each year, the Academy’s Advisory Board along with current and past Fellows seek out and nominate individuals to be invited to apply to the Academy. These individuals, ages 25-55, represent the business, non-profit, government, education and entrepreneurial sectors of the central Ohio community. Nominees have demonstrated potential for top leadership roles in both their professional and civic life.

Nominees are asked to apply to the Academy. Applications typically far exceed the number of available class slots. From the pool of applications only 12-20 people are invited to participate in the Academy. The Academy class starts in January of each year with graduation occurring in September.

By design, the Academy’s intensive strengths based curriculum focuses on rigorous reflection and thoughtful development around efficacy, leadership agility and leadership interaction. It is rooted in working on the individual as a distinctive leader. The Academy’s core curriculum involves (1) exploring, discovering, and developing each participant’s distinctive style of leading, (2) identifying and developing the skill for negotiating race in work, civic and social settings and (3) developing a personal agenda for growth and development through access to personal coaches and strategic connections with highly regarded community leaders.