We are excited to launch the second year of Philanthropy New York’s Young Leaders Breakfast Club!
Piloted in 2010-2011 with the support of American Express, the Young Leaders Breakfast Club is a peer-to-peer networking and group-based mentoring program designed to support younger professionals in the philanthropic sector.
The goal of the Young Leaders Breakfast Club is to foster the professional development of young leaders, and build a sense of community that supports them as emerging leaders and helps them begin to create critical professional networks.
How does it work?
Philanthropy New York will organize younger foundation practitioners into small peer groups and then pair each group with a mentor. Each “breakfast club” meets monthly for nine months – alternating between meeting as a peer group (just the three younger professionals) and as a group with their mentor. In addition to breakfast club meetings, each participant meets one-on-one with their mentor twice over the course of the program.
Each participant must identify at least one goal they want to work on with the support of their group. The breakfast clubs provide participants with a confidential space to get objective feedback from their mentor and peer group, and hold themselves accountable to their goal.
Additionally, participants bring issues to the table that they want to talk about with their group – for example, career paths, work/life balance, troubleshooting current work challenges, gaining experience outside of your current job.
How do I know if this program is right for me?
Join the information session! We will go over the expectations and responsibilities of participants and mentors, give you some guiding questions to help you determine if this is the right program for you, and share testimonials from former participants.
Important notes and dates!
You must attend this info session in order to be eligible to participate in the program. If you cannot make this date/time, please contact Kristen Ruff (kruff@philanthropynewyork.org).
We will go over the time commitment required during the information session, but here is the basic sketch:
- Kick-off meeting with all participants and mentors on January 19th, 3 – 5pm. (Please save this date on your calendar. If you are selected to participate in the program, this will be your first meeting with your group and mentor.)
- Monthly group meetings from February through September
- Two one-on-one meetings with your mentor
- Wrap-up and evaluation session in October
In order to build a trusting and respectful environment, it is important that each member understands and respects the time commitment expected.
After the information session, you will receive the application. Applications will be due on January 11. Since this is a quick turnaround time for applications, we encourage you to talk to your supervisors now about potentially participating.
Young Leaders Breakfast Club: Mentors
- Lori Bezahler, President, Edward W. Hazen Foundation
- William (Bill) Falahee, Controller, The J.M. Kaplan Fund
- Armanda Famiglietti, Director, Grants Management, The Nathan Cummings Foundation
- Edna Iriarte, Program Officer, New York Foundation
- Dara Major, Consultant Philanthropy
- KC Maurer, Chief Financial Officer, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
- Wilma Montañez, Reproductive Rights Program Director, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
- Anita Nager, Philanthropic Advisor
- Patricia (Pat) Nicholas, Project Manager, International Program, Carnegie Corporation of New York
- Nathaniel (Toby) Thompkins, Executive Director, The Twenty-First Century Foundation (21CF)
- Lena Townsend, Executive Director, Robert Bowne Foundation
Presenters
- Kristen Ruff, Deputy Director of Member Services, Philanthropy New York
- Anthony Simmons, participant in last year’s pilot Young Leaders Breakfast Club and Program Manager, The Black Male Donor Collaborative, The Schott Foundation for Public Education
- George Suttles, participant in last year’s pilot Young Leaders Breakfast Club and graduate student at The Center on Philanthropy, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Designed for
The Young Leaders Breakfast Club is designed for professionals in their twenties and thirties who work in philanthropy.