Author: Gary Williams, Jr
Deputy Director, Public Allies
Amber Sample, second year Public Ally (2018–2019 & 2019–2020), navigating the ropes course during a team building event at Outward Bound
Who gets to be a leader? In Baltimore, community members and social leaders recognized that the nonprofit sector had two issues when it comes to talent development: the qualifications of leadership were not inclusive, and organizations overlooked community members as the most important assets towards addressing the city’s most pressing issues.
These exclusionary practices led organizations to miss out on vital connections and untapped talent within local communities. In 2009, Public Allies came to Baltimore by way of the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work’s Community Outreach Service; with the goal of changing who gets to be considered a “leader” in this city. At the core of Public Allies’ mission are two principles that are critical to disrupting inequitable structures of leadership development:
Anyone can be a leader in their community.
Solutions for the community must be rooted in the community, with community members taking the lead.
Kierra Curtis, Public Ally 2018–2019 walking Baltimore youth across the street.
It does not, and should not, take privileged credentials to be a leader. What leadership requires is a willingness to collaborate with fellow citizens, and a living set of core values that engage, motivate, and activate community members. Over the past decade, Public Allies has been operating within those principles to provide apprenticeships for early-career individuals in Baltimore. Public Allies centers an asset-based approach towards working on critical issues in the city while energizing the social impact sector to build inclusive, equitable and dynamic definitions of leadership. We have seen the effectiveness of this leadership paradigm.
Kierra Curtis, Publics Ally 2018–2019, with youth from Green Mount West Community Center
Last year, most non-profits wouldn’t have thought to look towards the hospitality industry to find a community leader with magnetic team-building capacity, but that’s where we found Jamal Johnson.
Jamal Johnson, Public Ally 2018–2019 (right), Brian Pham, president of Break-A-Difference.
Before coming to Public Allies, Jamal worked as a server at a local restaurant. On his first day with the 2018–2019 Public Allies Maryland cohort, he said that he wanted to become mayor of Baltimore. It was clear that he had a plan to help Baltimore. Jamal was wildly popular amongst his cohort; his compassion and drive shone through with every interaction. He would speak without pretentiousness, was direct, clear and understandable so that everyone he spoke to could clearly witness the passion he had about working in the community, and for the community. Through the Public Allies Program Jamal was placed at Break a Difference, a nonprofit that works at “expanding the volunteer service capacity for nonprofits”. Jamal filled the position as Engagement Coordinator for Break A Difference. His duties were to build a volunteer management system for the organization and lead local volunteer groups from corporations and other organizations to participate in meaningful volunteer experiences in Baltimore. After his Public Ally apprenticeship, he became a part of the staff at Break a Difference, finding ways to help cities all over, but especially his beloved Baltimore.
Ten years ago, I returned to Baltimore with a desire to start a career dedicated to addressing the critical issues in my community. I found that it was difficult for me to secure employment with an organization, the claims by these organizations were that I did not have enough experience for even entry-level work in the nonprofit sector. That pushed me to consider another way of getting my foot in the door: Public Allies.
Gary Williams, Director of Public Allies sharing his life map to the 10th Public Allies cohort in Baltimore, Maryland.
I was in the inaugural Public Allies Maryland cohort. During that time, I served my own neighborhood of Washington Village Pigtown and spent a portion of my year working with Job Opportunities Task Force on the Project Jumpstart program. The opportunity to use my own skills to do important work for my community and to receive the coaching and mentorship I needed to become effective in my work was invaluable. Whether it was how to effectively collaborate, or how to focus on systemic disparities when trying to address the root causes of the issues I see, Public Allies Maryland was a pillar in my professional development. My Public Allies experience led me to always view my community members as necessary leaders for initiatives focusing on community strengthening strategies. As Site Director for Public Allies Maryland (my current role), I lead my team with the same values: see everyone as a leader, and place them in opportunities to be a leader. Recognizing untapped talent in the community helps the community to reassess what their assets are and how to best use them for good. I tell my cohorts that they are not leaders because we make them so, but that we picked them because they are already leaders in their community.
Shanika Walters, second year Public Ally, organizing quotes from Baltimore City Public School students during the John B. King Education Panel
This is the second year that the Public Allies Maryland program has been operated by Baltimore Corps. We have a great opportunity to leverage the program to change how the social sector develops talent. Baltimore Corps brings a wealth of assets to operating the Public Allies program: first the alignment of values on equity and inclusion. Secondly, both have a shared outlook on developing talent. Having Public Allies Maryland operate out of Baltimore Corps brings Public Allies’ philosophy of promoting system change in Baltimore City to life.
The primary change is to continue to shift the idea of who gets to be a leader and having that shift in leadership creates ripple effects of empowering members of the community to make a difference in their neighborhoods.