Broadening Perspectives for Impactful Social Leadership
Insights from Columbia Global’s Social Impact Leadership Programs
At Columbia Global, we support a set of innovative programs focused on enhancing the leadership skills of students, early-career faculty, and social impact leaders. These flagship initiatives include the Columbia Obama Foundation Scholars Program at Columbia University, which helps young leaders from around the world deepen their knowledge, skills, and networks to advance their aspirations; the Social Impact Fellowship, which empowers Columbia University undergraduate students to explore social impact careers; and the Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship program, which strengthens faculty’s skills in leveraging their scholarship and research to drive change. To date, more than 120 people have participated in these programs.
Early evaluation showed how the programs expanded participants’ perspectives on social impact leadership. Specifically, program participants reported gaining a broader perspective on their work, which allowed them to better navigate the complexities of global trends while considering the unique challenges of their local contexts. For the 2023-2024 Obama Scholars cohort, participants indicated that they learned about systems thinking while in the program, for example (75% stated they had little to no experience with systems thinking prior to the program).
For undergraduate students in the Social Impact Fellowship, broadening perspectives about social impact work involves more than just learning about social problems. As an example, participants in the 2023-2024 cohort reported gaining more awareness of careers in social impact by the end of the program. In addition, students engage with diverse viewpoints, explore systemic challenges, and connect them with real-world solutions. This process starts with exposing them to a range of issues and potential careers from government and non-government opportunities to roles in philanthropy. At the end of the program, one Social Impact Fellow reported gaining “more clarity about my interests, passions, and the future of my path.”
While participants in the Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship may enter the program conscious of their research interests, participants indicate that the fellowship experience has made them more conscious of the role of actors beyond the academy play in shaping and executing policies and programs. As one participant explained, “I was already oriented to influencing policies and working with partners at different levels. Having critical discussions with the other faculty in our group was the best, particularly the discussions about the implications of the work we are doing.”
Likewise, the Obama Foundation Scholars reported experiencing broadened perspectives through their relationship with other Scholars and through their participation in Columbia courses, and the customized seminars and workshops they participated in. “The program changed me… and I now think beyond my local context and think globally,” stated one scholar from the 2019 cohort.
Students, faculty, and scholars value an environment that enables them to pause, critically think, and expand their horizons literally and figuratively. As one faculty participant stated about the Early Career Faculty Impact Fellowship: “It's a unique space… where you can be open and honest. It's actually a place where we are building a community.”
About the author: Gina Alvarado is a sociologist and the Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning at Columbia Global.
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