Research

Our primary research consists of evaluations we conduct on the Emerging Leaders Program and the program participants. We consistently look to see if the participants reflect the changing demography of the city. (Our city is now over 50% people of color.) We are pleased that over 46% of the participants have been people of color and more than half women and that the major organizations in the Greater Boston region have sent participants.

We administer several surveys to current participants throughout the cycle of the program—at the beginning of the program in November, after the January weeklong seminar, in June and again at the end of the program in the fall. We also periodically send surveys to our alums. Survey results show strong support for the program. Consistently we see that participants would recommend this program to another young professional. We also administer the Leadership Practices Inventory to participants at the beginning and end of the program and look at those results to see if participants have progressed in their own leadership development. Again, we have seen positive results.

A follow up grant from the State Street Foundation provided us an opportunity to undertake a more extensive evaluation. Interviews were conducted with eight of the sending organizations as well as alums from those organizations to learn about the impact on the organizations as well as the participants. The organizations found the program to have positive effects on recruitment and retention of employees and that participant’s work skills were enhanced after their participation. Many organizations send participants year after year indicating that the program is meeting a professional development goal.

We research and keep track of indicators of community involvement. Several of our alums have gone on to prominent boards in the region. One now chairs the Dorchester Board of Trade; another is the Treasurer of the Boston Children’s Chorus; and another is the president of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra; others have gone onto boards for the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, the Crittenden Women’s Union, The Red Cross, The Boston Municipal Research Bureau and other prominent boards. We are now frequently called when board appointments are to be made and asked to nominate alums of the Emerging Leaders Program.