Leadership Institute alumna Alyse Faour reflects on her experience in the 2021 cohort

Leadership Institute is YNPN Chicago’s premiere leadership training program for emerging nonprofit leaders. Over the course of ten months, a cohort of Chicago’s promising nonprofit leaders come together to challenge each other, collaborate, and build relationships to serve them beyond the program. Additionally, participants are paired with an experienced nonprofit leader as a personal mentor and network with monthly guest speakers.

Applications for the 2022 cohort are open until November 28th! Read more from one alumna of the 2021 cohort about their experiences as part of Leadership Institute.

Alyse Faour is the Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Development at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

It has always been tough for me to identify as a leader. I compared myself to leaders around me and thought, “I just need to be more confident and assertive like them.” Along the way, I was abandoning parts about myself to come off as more “direct” in an effort to be respected by those around me. I clearly had a lot to process.

The opportunity to participate in the Leadership Institute came at the perfect time. I figured I wasn’t the only young professional in Chicago that felt this way, and I quickly learned that many of us are experiencing the same challenges, but we don’t always have a space to talk openly about them.

Throughout the Leadership Institute, I learned that there is not one profile for a great leader. Everyone in the cohort showed up to each session with a willingness to learn and open up about their own experiences, which in turn, encouraged me to do the same.

I loved my experience with the Leadership Institute – I wasn’t ready for it to end! I walked away with a new set of tools to apply to my professional life, an appreciation for my empathy, and awesome friends.