With current nonprofit executive leaders retiring, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has started its first BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color) Cohort for Nonprofit Leadership Program.

Created in partnership with the University of Connecticut, the cohort officially kicked off this month and aims to develop new and more diverse leadership, organizers said.

“This program intentionally focuses on building leadership and practical skills of people of color who are already part of the local nonprofit workforce and aspire to senior positions,” said Jackie Downing, Director of Grantmaking and Nonprofit Support at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, in a prepared release.

Training will be conducted over a nine-month period and will feature topics including racial equity and system change, governance, leading and cultivating strategic partnerships, community engagement, strategic planning, budgeting, evaluation, advocacy, fundraising, and communications, according to the release.

The foundation will provide grant support to the nonprofit organizations where the participants work as compensation for their absence during the training. Participants also will receive undergraduate or graduate credit and a $1,000 scholarship toward future studies at UConn, the organization said.

The program’s participants will eventually go back to their respective organizations to consider recommended changes. 

Members of the cohort are: 

• Jahnice Cajigas – Director of Organizing for the Citywide Youth Coalition Inc. in New Haven
• Antonio L. Coles, 2nd – Quality Assurance Specialist at Columbus House in New Haven 
• Frankie Douglass – CitySeed in New Haven 
• Chanelle Goldson – Human Resources Coordinator at Children’s Center of Hamden
• Christian Aviles – Director of College Access and Persistence at Squash Haven in New Haven
• Victoria Massey, D.M.D. – General Dentist and Interim Dental Director at Fair Haven Community Health Care in New Haven
• Ala Ochumare – Youth Program Manager at the New Haven Pride Center
• Landon Osborn – Program Manager at Connecting through Literacy: Incarcerated Parents, Their Children and Caregivers (CLICC) in Branford 
• Nicole Sanclemente – Policy and Program Coordinator for the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund in Hartford 
• Kimani Sioux Williams – Operations Director at The Storehouse Project in Milford