Project: RISE Leadership Programme

We Rise, You Rise

Project duration: January 2023 - February 2025

The Rise Leadership Programme was developed by us with Lead Forward in cooperation with the neuen deutschen Organisationen (new German organisations).

We know that representation alone is not enough when it comes to driving sustainable structural change in society. That’s why in the RISE Leadership Programme we are exploring how deficits in representation, criticism of power and an orientation towards community can be considered in their interconnectedness - and in relation to leadership and responsibility. So that BIPoC do not just become visible in leadership positions, but also in connection with their communities, think about the concerns of people who are vulnerable to racism and discrimination and make decisions that benefit everyone and not just a few who make it to the top.

The programme is aimed at BIPoC, especially Black people, Sinti*zze and Rom*nja, as well as people from the Asian-diasporic, Muslim and Jewish communities aged 20-35, from different educational and social backgrounds. In a one-week intensive format, 25 participants from all over Germany met in Berlin from 15 April 2024 - 20 April 2024 to discuss topics relating to taking responsibility and leadership from perspectives critical of discrimination and racism. Numerous experts from different community contexts provided inputs and opened up spaces for discussion.

The experiences with the first cohort have emphasised the importance of the pilot project: there are too few spaces in which we can deal with the topics of leadership across communities and in a way that is critical of discrimination. Experiencing the connections, inspiration and shared visions that this very intensive week can create was also a very empowering experience for us.

The second cohort will take place in Berlin from 2-7 December 2024. You can apply from 12 August - 15 September.

Supported by the Verein für Demokratie Fonds - an initiative of the Allianz Foundation and Project Together gGmbH.