Leadership Weekends
The more we observe and interact with a growing generation of talented young Indians around the world, the more apparent it is that our community wants to do more for the world around them.
With the sheer capacities of the generation of Indians across the globe now coming of age, we have unprecedented potential to make a significant contribution to society; however, to work in unison, there is a pressing need to articulate a collaborative vision for the Indian diaspora community. Emerging leaders will be more effective if their respective spheres of influence are bound together by a path for action; the diaspora will be empowered by leadership that can generate opportunities for others; and our community will be more significant if we are working with shared values and a clear vision for our role in society.
To start, our parent organization, US-based Indify, is launching a leadership program that engages emerging leaders in three weekend seminars over the course of one year. Young Indian-American leaders, not satisfied by the institutions that exist, are already looking for ways to express their unique blend of Indian and American values in more active form of community citizenship. They are coming together to start a diverse set of institutions that reflect their broadening interests. Organizations started by this generation have the potential to be fundamentally different from the business, linguistic, religious, and regional ones of their parents. With visionary leadership, these new organizations can help the diaspora play a more proactive role in society.
As a community, our relevance is a reflection of our collective efforts to bring progress to America and the world.
The Indify Leadership Initiative is designed to bring together new generation leaders in a learning community that will continue to explore our role as a diaspora. In the process of encouraging greater action, the initiative will spark dialogue about the nature of the Indian community in America, explore the role of an ethnic/immigrant diaspora, and help leaders work together to articulate the potential of Indians in America to contribute to Indian, Indian-American, and American societies.
The first effort of the Indify Leadership Initiative is the Indify Fellowship, a program that challenges emerging Indian-American leaders to articulate an actionable vision for the Indian-American community. Fellows will unite at three “Leadership Weekends” over the course of a year to strengthen their individual and collective leadership capacities in an environment that emphasizes the convergence of reason, values, and the greater good.
In December 2007, Indify will launch the Indify Fellows program in two cities, Chicago and Houston.
If you are interested in learning more about the effort or exploring possibilities in another city or country, please email archana[at]indify.org .
