Aizaiah Yong Receives 2024 Reflective Leadership Grant


CST is proud to share the selection of Rev. Dr. Aizaiah Yong as a recipient of this year’s Reflective Leadership Grant, awarded by Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. Yong notes that this grant “will help us to harvest the work of the Center for Engaged Compassion over the past 15 years and cast vision for the future of our work to promote compassion in the world.”

Leadership Education has asked us to share the following about the organization and grant program: 

Leadership Education aims to create lasting change in U.S. congregations by supporting Christian leaders and the institutions they serve. Leadership Education designs educational services, develops intellectual resources and facilitates networks of institutions that cultivate a coherent vision of Christian institutional leadership and form Christian leaders. Leadership Education is a non-degree-granting initiative of Duke Divinity School funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and based in Durham, NC.

These individuals have been selected to receive a Reflective Leadership Grant from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. These grants of up to $15,000 support an opportunity for structured reflection for leaders of Christian organizations that are advancing their mission in the midst of today’s rapidly changing context. Fifty Christian leaders from a variety of faith-based organizations are funded in this third year of the Reflective Leadership Grant program.

The Reflective Leadership Grant at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity recognizes and supports the faithful and innovative work of lay and ordained Christian leaders who find themselves at a pivotal moment in their ministry,’ says Mycal Brickhouse, a director of program and grants at Leadership Education. ‘Using Harvard professor Ron Heifetz’s language, we want to help leaders experience “balcony time,” which allows them to move from the dance floor to the balcony to gain a broader picture of the work, organization, community and trends. We want to encourage grantees to continue to develop their leadership capacities in ways specific to their work and context. For some, this might look like attending interdisciplinary conferences, and for others it might look like observing similar work in different settings. We are excited about the interest in this grant program from both traditional and non-traditional Christian leaders and we look forward to learning alongside them and their communities.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Yong on this exciting opportunity.