Proximity Accelerator: Surge Institute
The Proximity Accelerator, which is led by New Profit Managing Partner Tulaine Montgomery and Partner Marco Davis, is part of a larger effort by New Profit to support visionary social entrepreneurs and other leaders from underrepresented communities, in this case communities of color. Participants in the one-year Proximity Accelerator receive a one-time unrestricted grant of $50,000, intensive group learning and collaboration on leadership and organizational development, regular consultations with New Profit partners with expertise in nonprofit capacity building, and access to New Profit’s larger learning community of social entrepreneurs and other changemakers through events like the annual Gathering of Leaders.
The first cohort of this year-long initiative features eight selected organizations. Today we celebrate one of the eight selected organizations: Surge Institute.
The Surge Institute aims to change the face of leadership in education by training, supporting, connecting and elevating emerging diverse talent and supporting institutions to dramatically increase access and outcomes for underserved students. Surge Institute was founded in 2014, in response to a dearth of leadership of color at the decision-making tables within education reform. Surge provides leadership development resources to institutions and individuals to create a pipeline of diverse leaders in education. The Surge Fellowship, the Institute’s signature program, is designed to identify and groom emerging talent in education and provide them with leadership development as well as access to networks and visibility, empowering them to bring new ideas, perspectives, and solutions that change the landscape of education.
About Carmita Semaan
Carmita Patrice Semaan, the Founder and President of Surge, is a proud product of Birmingham, Alabama — a city that has significantly shaped who she is, what she values and how she defines her life’s work. Carmita’s career started in Corporate America where her technical savvy, business acumen, faith and commitment to developing others quickly advanced her through assignments in global marketing, strategic planning, and engineering/operations management for Fortune 500 companies including Procter & Gamble and the Danaher Corporation. In spite of her corporate success, Carmita yearned to lead high-impact initiatives that benefit urban youth and transform urban communities; and so began her journey into the non-profit sector.
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