As April closes, I want to say thank you. Our staff interacted with so many of you as volunteers throughout New Scholar Selection Days. We couldn’t have pulled off this four-day, 13-session event without your help. Thank you for embracing one of our core values — We Show Up — and for proving your commitment to our work! With New Scholar Selection Days behind us, we’re ready to accept a new class of students into the Chicago Scholars Class of 2027! While this moment is always exciting, I feel it even more deeply this season. Last month, I had the opportunity to write on the challenges of finding CEOs of color — in every industry but especially in nonprofits — for NonProfit Pro. I thought I’d share a few of my reflections from that piece about diverse leadership.
“Organizations are learning — or will soon learn — they are less effective when they lack diverse leadership. Their mission loses relevance, even fundraising suffers. The COVID-19 and racial injustice pandemics have taught us that diverse thought and identities are necessary for solving problems, particularly for nonprofits that address poverty. Solutions created in single-perspective silos likely won’t adequately address community dynamics. It’s like building a mobile app without testing it among target customers.”
I truly believe our Scholars are the dynamic, diverse, talented leaders our city needs. We don’t do anything without the input of our target customers — our Scholars — as it is their perspectives that matter most. That’s why this month is so exciting for our Chicago Scholars community. In the next week, we’ll welcome another class of 500 students. I have no doubt that in the future some of our Scholars will be the nonprofit leaders of color that I had such difficulty finding. This is the exciting future we are working towards every day.
One of our featured speakers, Daniela Fernandez, is a Chicago Scholars Alumna who, as the founder and CEO of Sustainable Ocean Alliance, is working to save our planet through the power of innovation. As part of Earth Day, we celebrate Daniela for her numerous accomplishments towards a healthier ocean and future for our planet. I can’t wait to see what she continues to do, and how other Scholars will lead alongside her.
Jeffery Beckham Jr.
CEO
