Authentic Leadership
What We Fund
We Believe
We believe that authentic leaders are people of the highest integrity who are committed to building enduring organizations, have a deep sense of genuine purpose, and are true to their core values. Authentic leaders first lead themselves, then teams, and then organizations.
Our Aspiration
Strengthen authentic leadership in all sectors in service of our vision of a society led by authentic leaders who contribute to building compassionate communities and creating a more just, civil, and functional society.
Ensure enduring opportunities for True North leadership development for people of all races, genders, and socioeconomic levels.
Nurture the development of exceptionally promising future leaders focused on helping society overcome its most complicated and entrenched challenges.
Reduce barriers in higher education, enabling students to achieve their full potential.
What We Fund
To support achievement of our aspirations, we seek to fund an intentional mix of Authentic Leadership endeavors, including:
Leadership Development Programs
We fund a variety of leadership development endeavors that embrace the philosophies and tenets of authentic leadership.
George Fellows
Select funding to nurture the development of exceptionally promising authentic leaders enrolled in world-class graduate programs designed to position graduates to help society overcome its most complicated and entrenched challenges.
George Scholars
Targeted scholarships to reduce barriers to higher education — enabling students to improve their opportunities for the future and achieve their full potential.
Grantee Spotlights
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Sigma Chi Leadership Institute (SCLI)
SCLI’s objective is to develop transformational leaders by offering world-class leadership development curricula that helps individuals reach their fullest potential and leave lasting legacies on their communities. The program embraces four dimensions of transformational: Self, Others, Action, and Community. The “Bill George Authentic Leadership Certificate” addresses the need to develop an understanding of Self through three individual/contributing certificates: Foundational Leadership, True North Leadership, and Values-Based Leadership. The Bill George Authentic Leadership Certificate is rooted in self-understanding and an ability to recognize and celebrate the passion and purpose that leads to transformational change. The overarching certificate also includes an exploration of “authentic masculinity,” evaluating the power of existing notions of masculinity and developing individualized definitions of what it means to be a man who lives with authenticity and purpose.
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George Fellows at the Center for Public Leadership — Harvard Kennedy School/Harvard Business School
The Center for Public Leadership’s mission is to inspire and enhance the capacity for principled, effective public leadership in government, politics, civil society, and business. The George Leadership Fellowship recognizes and support select students in their final year of the three-year Harvard Kennedy School/Harvard Business School joint degree program. George Fellows receive both a financial stipend and co-curricular programming designed to facilitate public service by investing in character formation, authentic leadership development, and ethical leadership across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.
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Duke True North Leadership
The Duke True North Leadership (TNL) program at Duke University aims to create a shared framework of effective leadership development for all Duke undergrads, based on Bill George’s True North Leadership work, writing, and philosophies. Duke TNL will offer a comprehensive and transformational four-year leadership journey that allows all students to develop themselves as leaders. A pilot program for the initiative began in fall 2023 and will scale over the next three academic years. Each core element of the program will be delivered over the course of one academic year: Year One is Discover Yourself; Year Two is Develop Yourself; and Year Three is Lead People. Duke’s aim is to have 100% of undergraduate students engaged in True North Leadership programming within ten years.
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Page Education Foundation
The Page Education Foundation provides financial assistance to Minnesota students of color pursuing their dreams of post-secondary education. Scholarship recipients also volunteer with young children in the community as tutors, mentors, and role models. Page Education Foundation helps students reach their fullest potential both academically and as community leaders while addressing the systemic racial inequities in Minnesota that adversely impact all residents’ economic, social, and mental health.
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Dunwoody College of Technology George Scholars
Dunwoody College is the only private, nonprofit technical college in the Upper Midwest and one of the first in the nation. Since 1914, Dunwoody has trained the future workforce for technical careers and the skilled trades, adapting curriculum to stay current with industry needs. Dunwoody serves approximately 1,300 students annually with certificate, associate’s, and bachelor’s degree programs, and a commitment to increasing the number of women and under-represented groups in technical education and careers.
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Women’s Foundation of Minnesota's Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota
The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota is a partnership between the Minnesota Governor’s Office and WFM, launched in 2016 to engage young women ages 16-24 as leaders to address disparities and build justice across gender and racial identities, particularly in eight communities that experience significant disparities: African American, African Immigrant, American Indian, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latina, LGBTQ+, young women with disabilities, and young women in Greater Minnesota. The Governor’s Office appoints 32 representatives of these communities to a Young Women’s Council (YWC), charging them with ensuring that the work of the initiative stays grounded in the lived experiences of young women and youth from each community.
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Neighborhood House Latino Leadership Program
The mission of Neighborhood House is to help people gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence to thrive in diverse communities. They are committed to helping families move out of crisis and towards stability, with a wide variety of wholistic programming — all 100% free to participants. The Latino Leadership Program provides participants with key skills needed to discover one’s own leadership potential while instilling confidence to eventually take on leadership roles in the community. They teach that leadership manifests first in one’s own life before modeling values to others and sharing concern for those around us. Key components of the program include developing: awareness of and confidence in personal leadership values and styles; awareness of the importance of each person speaking out and taking action in regard to community issues; knowledge of community assets, challenges and resources. As participants progress, they create a personal plan for future leadership and embrace (and create) opportunities to move toward community-building and action.
