What is the Visionary Leadership Fund?

Valentine Foundation created a new endowment to support leadership training for women working in non-profit organizations serving women and girls in the Greater Philadelphia region. The Campaign was a one-time initiative to raise $500,000 to establish the endowment.

The goal is to provide a dedicated source of funding for critical training which would:

• Make current leaders more effective
• Develop the next generation of leaders
  
• Foster a community of women leaders

Why is Leadership Training Necessary?

Women and girls in our region still face significant obstacles to achieving their full potential:

• Women still earn only 77 cents for every $1 earned by men.
• Women are still underrepresented in leadership positions, higher paying occupations, and corporate boardrooms.
• The for-profit sector understands the importance of investing in current and future leaders, spending $6.4 billion on executive training in 2004.
• The non-profit organizations serving women and girls often cannot afford to take money from under-funded program initiatives to support leadership training.
• 60% of executive hiring is from within for-profit companies; while in non- profits, only 30% of executive hiring is from within. This is because the potential next generation of non-profit leaders is not being properly developed.
• A 2006 study by La Salle University documented the “leadership gap” in non-profits in our region:
  67% of executive directors expect to leave their positions by 2010, and
  52% of the organizations have no internal candidates to replace them

What will the Fund for Visionary Leadership accomplish for our community?

The Fund will support up to 10 women leaders each year:

• In 5 years there could be 50 more effective women leaders.
• These women who are already working on behalf of women and girls will be great role models, mentors and advocates for social change.

The potential ripple effect is huge – as the skills of the leaders are enhanced, the organizations are fortified, the constituents are better served and the opportunities available to all women and girls in our community are improved.

This endowment is a new and exciting idea for our region – it will provide the first dedicated source of funding for leadership training for women executives in the non-profit sector.