Micheal Coleman
FERNDALE, Mich. – Michael Coleman, director of communications and development for Affirmations LGBT community center in Ferndale, has recently been accepted into the 21st Century Fellows Program.
The program is a product of The Pipeline Project, which works to recruits new, diverse talent to work for and with LGBT organizations at staff and board levels, including internships and entry-level positions. The goal is to increase the number of people of color working with the nation's LGBT rights, services and advocacy sector.
The Pipeline Project was founded in 2008 to work to achieve significantly
increased levels of diversity within LGBT advocacy and service organizations
and in the leadership of those organizations with a program that focuses on
recruitment and retention of diverse talent for LGBT organizations;
mechanisms, programs, and strategies to advance people of color to
leadership positions within LGBT organizations; and programs and strategies
to both prepare LGBT organizations for and invest them in significant levels
of diversity and inclusion.
"I am honored and thrilled to have been selected to join the inaugural
cohort of the 21st Century Fellows Program," said Coleman. "I look forward to what is sure to be a transformative experience for all of us, and to continuing my work as a catalyst within the LGBT community."
The 21st Century Fellows Program is by invitation only and available only to LGBT grantees of the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and the Arcus Foundation. The program's reviewers balanced a number of criteria in order to ensure the selected applicants were true to the racial, gender, geographic, age and experiential diversity of the applicant field.
"It is encouraging to see this opportunity present itself for the LGBT community. The number of people of color holding paid leadership roles in our movement is astonishingly low. The 21st Century Fellow Program is the first step in starting to level the playing field," said Affirmations Chief Executive Officer Leslie Thompson. "Having Michael Coleman, our director of communications and development, selected as one of only 20 people to participate is the cherry on top of this opportunity. He has shown great leadership at Affirmations and now will have access to learning additional skills which can change his life on both a personal and professional level. I am very excited for him and look forward to seeing him shine on a national level."
For more information, visit their Web site at http://www.GoAffirmations.org.
