Ford Institute Leadership Program

From the moment Gustavo Morales (age 15) of Ontario, Oregon first addressed the mostly-adult Ford Institute Leadership class with his viewpoint on the status of gangs in the local schools, the entire room fell silent. The class knew they were listening to something very important and that they were hearing it from someone they would look to for leadership again and again over the subsequent year and beyond.

The Ford Institute Leadership Program (FILP) Leadership training is an experiential learning program that gives existing and emerging rural leaders like Gustavo an opportunity to improve their leadership skills, network with and mentor other community members, and complete a small community improvement project. More than 3,000 rural residents of all ages across Oregon and Siskyou County, California are graduates of The Ford Family Foundation sponsored program.

What Is Involved in Leadership?
As part of Leadership Development, 20 to 35 community members attend 48 to 60 hours of RDI-delivered leadership training over four weekends and complete a community improvement project over the course of one year (download PDF for more information).

As a part of one such community improvement venture, Ontario’s Gustavo worked seamlessly with diverse members of his leadership team bringing their project (a community garden) to fruition. This project was of prominent importance to Gustavo and to the local community. In addition to providing education and collaborative opportunities, foods produced there are donated to the local food pantry where residents in need can benefit from the harvest. These same residents are also invited to learn to grow food and learn about nutrition in a community atmosphere. During Gustavo’s efforts working with his class to complete the community garden, he spent countless hours fundraising, planning, negotiating, reaching consensus on action steps, and getting his hands in the dirt.

For participants like Gustavo, FILP Leadership Development is as much about the experience of being in the room together as the subjects at hand. In our approach, we emphasize that most of the wisdom and expertise that's passed on through the program comes from the participants; it’s our job to facilitate the transfer of knowledge. In order to achieve this, hands-on activities, networking, mentoring, consensus, and group discussion are integral parts of the leadership training.

Past Participants Help Make Future Classes Happen!
A cornerstone of the program’s success is that community members who have previously completed the Leadership portion of the program, volunteer to take on roles as advocates, coordinators, and facilitators for subsequent leadership classes held in their community. The Ford Community Ambassador Program is an integral part of the overall goal of the program to build community leadership capacity. RDI supports these community members so that they can replicate all or part of the FILP Leadership Development experience for other emerging leaders in their community. As part of the ambassador team, ambassadors are given the same training that RDI staff receives to carry out the program, and they are invited to an annual summit to celebrate their work as volunteers and hone their skills.

After completing the first leadership class and Effective Organizations trainings in Ontario, Gustavo volunteered to become a community facilitator for the second Leadership class held just last fall. As a part of that role, he received intensive training as a facilitator and excelled in his masterful coverage of leadership topics. Gustavo is now a graduating high school senior who is running for Oregon FFA President and hopes to one day soon become a surgeon. Gustavo is just one of more than 3,000 people in the Northwest who have shared in (and in so doing have enriched) the FILP Leadership experience!

You can read more about this program by downloading our Project PDF. To learn more about how to bring the award-winning Ford Institute Leadership Program to your community, you can contact RDI's Gary Stewart at gstewart@rdiinc.org or visit The Ford Family Foundation website.