The Gold Standard of Foundation Talent-Investing - with Sidney Hargro, The LeadersTrust

Today’s social justice nonprofit leaders are fighting for communities that have been impacted by trauma, even as the nonprofit leaders are experiencing or organizational and personal trauma themselves. Racial equity and social justice require talent-investing. In this episode, Rusty talks with Sidney Hargro, the inaugural Executive Director at The LeadersTrust, a new multi-funder grantmaking initiative that offers an effective, evaluated approach to talent-investing that has been tested for 20 years with over 120 nonprofits and more than $30 million in investments. To help advance transformation in the sector, The LeadersTrust was recently created by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and other foundations. The LeadersTrust offers the Flexible Leadership Awards, a sophisticated talent-investing model initially developed by Haas Jr. Fund as a strategy to invest in nonprofit staff in order to expand program impact and financial sustainability. Topics discussed include: Sidney’s journey into and through philanthropy, including a recent stint as the head of Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, and his studies in engineering and divinity. The foundations that have come together to form The LeadersTrust. The core components of the Flexible Leadership Awards. The importance of talent-investing layered on top of general operating support. Responding to three common “pushbacks” on talent-investing. Check out our show notes for links to references and recources mentioned in this episode!