Funding Opportntiy: Open Society Foundations Launch Worldwide Fund to Support Nonprofits Navigating Leadership Transitions

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NEW YORK—To help nonprofit organizations during their first two years of new leadership, the Open Society Foundations today announced a fund designed to provide key financial support so that a new generation of leaders around the world can implement their initiatives.

“The initial period when a new executive is appointed can be the most challenging and simultaneously the most promising time for an organization,” said Chris Stone, president of the Open Society Foundations. “When I became director of the Vera Institute in 1994, dealing with recent losses could have prevented me from starting any of the new initiatives that excited me. To this day, I remain grateful for the additional, discretionary support from foundations that allowed me to jump-start a new program and strengthen the core team. I’m glad we will be helping today’s new directors to start early in implementing their visions.”

Leadership transitions in nonprofit organizations are just as important as those in the for-profit sector, although they often receive less attention. New executive directors come to the position with innovative projects, but often face internal limitations and a lack of resources. This fund gives new leaders the discretionary support to implement the ideas that got them hired in the first place. This new fund is the only available support of its kind for nonprofit leaders at the outset of their tenure.

“New leaders share a common experience of deferring their visions because they are bound by constraints. We want to avoid this problem,” said Stone. “Periods of transition for nonprofits should be fertile moments for positive change and growth and help inject new vitality into an organization.”

The Open Society Foundations are committed to supporting a new generation of civil society leaders as part of their efforts to strengthen the nonprofit sector worldwide. The New Executives Fund will support executive directors and chief executive officers who have the potential to be leaders in fields that are central to Open Society’s mission.

The Open Society Foundations have long made individual decisions to support new directors, including directors at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the PEN American Center this year. The New Executives Fund expands this kind of support, making it a regular part of how Open Society is helping to build a new generation of nonprofit leadership.

The inaugural cohort of the fund includes leaders from around the globe whose organizations are advancing a range of human rights and social justice issues. Organizations will receive a two-year grant, which will be allocated at the executive director’s discretion.

The Open Society Foundations’ new fund seeks to support a new generation of leaders around the world can implement their initiatives. Nonprofit organizations face challenges when new leaders take over them. As transition takes places, new leaders have to cope with internal limitations and a lack of resources.

This new fund seeks to give new leaders the discretionary support to implement the ideas that got them hired in the first place. It is the only available support of its kind for nonprofit leaders at the outset of their tenure.

The Open Society Foundations are committed to supporting a new generation of civil society leaders as part of their efforts to strengthen the nonprofit sector worldwide. The New Executives Fund will support executive directors and chief executive officers who have the potential to be leaders in fields that are central to Open Society’s mission.

The Open Society Foundations have long made individual decisions to support new directors, including directors at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the PEN American Center this year. The New Executives Fund expands this kind of support, making it a regular part of how Open Society is helping to build a new generation of nonprofit leadership.

The inaugural cohort of the fund includes leaders from around the globe whose organizations are advancing a range of human rights and social justice issues. Organizations will receive a two-year grant, which will be allocated at the executive director’s discretion.

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