New Leaders Council

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New Leaders Council

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NLC provides local change makers place-based training and a national network of support – propelling our community of leaders to create the country we aspire to be.

08/19/2026

Institute doesn't wait until everyone's in a room together to start.

January kicks off virtual, every chapter, every city, logging in for the same kickoff on the same day.

It's your first real look at New Leaders Council before anyone steps into their local class, low stakes, high context.

Laptop ready, wifi connected, camera on, Fellows loaded. January doesn't ask much. Just show up online.

2027 New Leaders Council Institute applications are open now at newleaderscouncil.org/apply

Alt text:

Slide 1: Black graphic with New Leaders Council logo reads "Question" in pink above "What happens in January at NLC Institute?" in bold white text, with a green arrow icon pointing to the next slide.

Slide 2: Black graphic with New Leaders Council logo reads "Answer" in pink above "Everyone logs on." in bold white text, followed by "Every chapter, every city, one virtual kickoff before anyone steps into their local class" in green text, with a green arrow icon pointing to the next slide.

Slide 3: Black graphic with New Leaders Council logo reads "Laptop ready. Wifi connected. Camera on. Fellows loaded." in white text, followed by "You." in pink, then "January doesn't ask much. Just show up online" in green text, with "newleaderscouncil.org/apply" in white at the bottom.

08/17/2026

Big App Energy Tip #2: Leave the LinkedIn Headline at Home

Applying to New Leaders Council does not require an impressive job title, so take a breath.

New Leaders Council develops proximate leaders, people already doing the work, not people with a title that sounds impressive at a wedding. Vision and commitment beat a fancy job description every time.

Early career, mid career, doesn't matter. Bring the fire. We'll handle the paperwork.

2027 New Leaders Council Institute applications are open now at newleaderscouncil.org/apply

Alt text: Graphic with headshot grid background and gradient overlay reads "2027 Institute Applications Now Open" at top, "Big App Energy Tip #2" in black banner, and "Leave the LinkedIn Headline at Home" in bold b

08/13/2026

Daniel Cano's (NLC Orange County 2025) summer looks like two full-time jobs, except one of them also happens to be a fellowship.

Daniel completed his NLC Fellowship in June 2025. He has not slowed down since.

Last summer, Daniel joined the Urban Leaders Fellowship, working alongside Representative Eric Bell (NLC Atlanta 2022) on the Housing Committee. He spent the summer researching and drafting statewide policy around renter tax credits and homeownership support for first-time, first-responder buyers. That research did not sit in a binder. Representative Bell is using it to draft actual bill language right now.

This summer, Daniel is in the final two weeks of the Leadership for Educational Equity Policy and Advocacy Summer Fellowship, managing digital communications for a San Jose school board trustee's reelection campaign. That means building content calendars, drafting two to three posts a week, and finding the balance between personal story, endorsement graphics, and whatever the campaign needs that day.

He also serves as Board Communications Chair for NLC Orange County.

Being an NLC fellow does not end at graduation. It just changes what you are doing with it.

2027 NLC Institute Fellowship applications are open now at newleaderscouncil.org/apply.

Alt text: Photo of Daniel Cano smiling against a blurred background. Text reads: This NLC Alum Finished His Fellowship. Then Spent The Next Two Summers Doing Two More. Daniel Cano (NLC Orange County 2025). , The Leaders Changing the Game. New Leaders Council logo in the bottom right corner.

08/12/2026

Somewhere out there, someone's talked themselves out of applying to New Leaders Council because they don't work in politics, and we'd like to formally end that myth.

Less than 6% of our 2026 Fellows work in politics, while the other 94% are leading in nonprofit, education, government, healthcare, tech, law, and beyond.

NLC was built for people already doing the work wherever they are, educators, nonprofit leads, healthcare workers, founders, organizers, and yes, probably you too.

2027 New Leaders Council Institute applications are open now at newleaderscouncil.org/apply

Alt text:

Slide 1: Black graphic with New Leaders Council logo reads "Myth" in pink above "NLC is only for people in politics" in bold white text, with a green arrow icon pointing to the next slide.

Slide 2: Black graphic with New Leaders Council logo reads "Fact" in pink above "NLC is for leaders across every sector" in bold white text, followed by "Less than 6% of the 2026 Fellows work in politics. The other 94% lead everywhere else" in green text, with a green arrow icon pointing to the next slide.

Slide 3: Black graphic with New Leaders Council logo lists "Educators. Nonprofit leads. Healthcare workers. Founders. Organizers." in white text, followed by "You." in pink, then "If you're leading where you already are, NLC is for you" in green text, with "newleaderscouncil.org/apply" in white at the bottom.

08/10/2026

Big App Energy Tip #1: Log In Before You Cry

New Leaders Council trains leaders across every sector, and step one of applying has nothing to do with your resume.

Create your account before you write a single word. The application saves your progress, but only if you're logged in. Once you're in, Section 1 wants your demographics and professional background before it wants your feelings, chapters use this to build a class that reflects real communities. We promise you don't want to sit in a room with a bunch of people just like you. Or you might, but they might not want to.

Log in. Fill it out. Step one, complete.

2027 New Leaders Council Institute applications are open now at newleaderscouncil.org/apply

Alt text: Graphic with headshot grid background and dark overlay reads "2027 Institute Applications Now Open" at top, "Big App Energy Tip #1" in black banner, and "Log In Before You Cry" in bold black text. Bottom text reads "Apply Like a Leader" and "newleaderscouncil.org/apply."

08/01/2026

2026 Fellows, let's make it official.

You put in the work. You showed up for Institute. You presented your capstone. You built relationships that will last longer than any title or job description.

Now it's our turn to show up for you.

Drop your Instagram handle in the comments and we'll follow you back. We want to see what you build next.

Welcome to the alumni side, Class of 2026.

We hate to co-opt your moment, but we also believe in efficiency. Alumni from previous classes, if we still don't follow you, drop your handle here too. We want to make that right.

And if we already have you covered, use the comments to congratulate a member of the Class of 2026. They've earned it.

Alt text: Graphic styled as an Instagram follow notification. Text reads: newleaderscouncil started following you. 2026 Fellows, let's make it official. New Leaders Council logo.

07/30/2026

Every year we post this. Every year it starts a conversation. Good. That's the point.

July is Disability Pride Month, and one of the most meaningful things we can do is examine the language we use every day without thinking about it. Ableist language is embedded in how we speak, and most of us picked it up without realizing it.

Some of these will surprise you. Some won't. And yes, "Can I pray for you?" is on the list. If someone wants to be prayed for, let them lead that conversation. Offering it unsolicited, based on someone's disability, assumes it is something to be fixed, pitied, or saved from. Disability is an identity, not a burden. But don't take our word for it. The disability community has been saying this for years.

This list comes from Access Living, a disability-led organization based in Chicago. We share it every year because awareness is the first step and because the disability community deserves leaders who are paying attention.

Disability Pride Month. We see you.

Alt text: Colorful graphic on a white background with bold text bubbles in green, blue, yellow, and pink. Title reads: Ableist Phrases to Avoid. Phrases listed: That's so lame. You are so r******d. I'm super OCD about how I clean my apartment. That guy is crazy. You're acting so bi-polar today. She's such a psycho. It's like the blind leading the blind. My ideas fell on deaf ears. Are you off your meds? Can I pray for you? Source: Access Living. New Leaders Council logo in the bottom right corner.

07/28/2026

NLC Convention may have left Kentucky, but our Kentucky alumni never stopped doing the work.

Skylar Davis (NLC Kentucky 2024) founded Period Y'all as her NLC capstone project, a grassroots effort to expand access to menstrual products and fight period poverty across Kentucky. She went on to win the 2025 NLC Capstone Clash. And two years after that first idea took shape, Governor Andy Beshear signed a proclamation declaring May 11-17, 2026 as Period Poverty Awareness Week in Kentucky, specifically naming Period Y'all in the proclamation.

From students missing class to adults missing work, period poverty is real, deeply felt, and long overlooked. Skylar and Period Y'all have been doing the work to change that through direct service, advocacy, and community organizing across the state.

20 years of NLC means 20 years of alumni who turn their capstone projects into movements. Skylar is proof.

If this is what an NLC capstone can become, imagine what yours could be. Apply to become a fellow. Link in bio.

Congratulations to Skylar and the entire Period Y'all team.

Alt text: Photo of Skylar Davis holding the Governor's proclamation for Period Poverty Awareness Week against a dark background. Text reads: Kentucky Governor Names Period Poverty Awareness Week. An NLC Capstone Made It Happen. Skylar Davis (NLC Kentucky 2024). , The Leaders Changing the Game. New Leaders Council logo in the bottom right corner.

07/27/2026

New Leaders Council was never just about people running for office. Half the room isn't even thinking about a campaign.

We're a national network training leaders across government, nonprofit, law, healthcare, tech, business, and arts, wherever the actual work is happening. The Institute is our flagship six-month program, one weekend a month, building real skills alongside a cohort that's tackling real problems in real cities. Twenty years and over 15,000 alumni in, we've figured out what actually works.

This is the starting point. Everything else in this account builds from here.

2027 New Leaders Council Institute applications are open now at newleaderscouncil.org/apply

Alt Text:

Slide 1: Graphic with headshot grid background and dark overlay, New Leaders Council logo, reads "2027 Institute" in green and pink, with text "NLC is now accepting nominations and applications of local leaders for the 2027 New Leaders Council Fellowship."

Slide 2: Graphic with dark headshot grid background and purple border, New Leaders Council logo, reads "What is NLC?" describing NLC as the hub for proximate leaders in America, identifying and elevating local changemakers through training, community, and national connection. Below reads "What is Institute?" describing the NLC Institute as a flagship six month leadership program building skills in equity, proximity, and collective action through capstone projects, fundraising training, and community-based problem solving.

07/26/2026

Today marks 36 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law.

On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, public accommodations, transportation, and government services. It was a landmark moment. A promise that access and inclusion were not privileges but rights.

36 years later, that promise is being tested. Protections are being reinterpreted, rolled back, and chipped away at. The communities the ADA was designed to protect are watching the ground shift beneath them.

NLC has spent 20 years training leaders who understand that laws are only as strong as the people willing to defend them. Disability rights are civil rights. They always have been.

Happy 36th Anniversary, ADA. The work continues.

Alt text: Green and blue gradient graphic with bold text on a white rectangle. Text reads: 1990: The Americans with Disabilities Act became law. 2026: The protections it promised are being weakened. New Leaders Council logo in the bottom center.

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http://www.newleaderscouncil.org/

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