Silicon Valley Next

The Silicon Valley Next (SVN) program is a collaborative approach to develop high potential nonprofit leaders, with an emphasis on providing an accessible professional development opportunity for the sector’s leaders of color. A select cohort of Fellows – all individuals deeply rooted in the community – receive training, coaching, peer support, and other investments to prepare them for executive leadership.

SVN Fellows serve in their current org chart at one or two levels below the ED/CEO role and have all been identified as individuals who could plausibly ascend to the top leadership role in an organization within the next five years. We also will consider leaders who have only very recently ascended into the top role in their organization.

The inaugural program was developed and led by Curtis Chang of Consulting Within Reach. In early 2021, CEN was excited to announce our partnership with Curtis to bring the SVN program fully in-house here at CEN, with the second cohort launching in Spring 2021. There is no cost to the program for the Fellows, as SVN relies on the generosity of our funders: Heising-Simons Foundation, Sobrato Family Foundation, Morgan Family Foundation, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Thanks also to the Knight Foundation for its past support.

2021 & 2020 Program Info

Meet the 2021 Fellows

Meet the 2020 Fellows

2020 Impact report

Recruitment for Silicon Valley Next 2023 will begin in Fall 2022. Please click here to submit a nomination.

Review of the SVN Concept

The Program Goal
Develop the next generation of strong executive leadership for nonprofits, especially among people of color.

The Innovation
Replace the currently flawed model which forces each nonprofit organization to build its own isolated talent pipeline with a new model that collectively cultivates a shared talent pool. Individuals grow best when connected with others of similar talent and drive. But the current model isolates High Potentials from their peers in other organizations. Existing networking structures in our sector are heavily skewed towards convening executive directors, not middle management where most High Potentials reside. We believe the time is ripe for a more collaborative approach to talent development: the shared talent pool. In this model, the sector collaborates to identify, assess, and cultivate High Potentials within a leadership development program that is far more robust and resourced than what any one individual organization can mount.

The Benefit
This new model enables local nonprofits to benefit from a more robust development process for emerging leaders than can be constructed on their own. Another key advantage of the shared talent pool model is that it provides a concrete and leveraged opportunity for funders to invest in increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the sector. The overall DEI agenda will only be advanced broadly to the extent that we cultivate a next generation of talent that reflects this agenda. As such, the DEI perspective is woven throughout the program design.

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Program Design

SVN seeks to develop the long-term leadership capacity of 12-15 selected Fellows annually by focusing on three key areas of professional development:

Personal calling
Management of people
External social capital

These areas of development were identified as critical to SVN’s overall strategic aim to develop a more robust executive leadership talent pipeline for the sector. SVN aims to equip the Fellows with a set of paradigms, experiences, and relationships that will sustain growth in these areas well beyond the year-long program.

The commitment required of participating Fellows is centered around a monthly, day-long retreat. In addition, Fellows participate in a monthly executive coaching session and also a monthly peer coaching session. All told, the total time commitment is about 8 hours per month. If you are seeking more information about the program, please contact information@cen.org.

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Program Sponsors

Today's exercises were encouraging and felt like wind under my sails. In just two sessions (three if you are including my executive coaching session) your presence has changed me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking a chance on me.