The Next Generation Leadership initiative will begin in Boston with a five–day “immersion experience.”  Under the shared guidance of The Partnership and WGBH, this convening will offer presentations by top thinkers on strategy, innovation, leadership, change management, race, culture and identity. All sessions will be integrated:  media commentators will participate in the leadership sessions, and leadership experts will participate in the media sessions.

NGL's Senior Editorial Fellows will be provided with two kinds of high-level coaches. Both will work with the Fellows across the entire eleven-month period.

Leadership Coaches from The Partnership will be assigned to the group, starting with the Immersion Week.  Each Coach will work with a sub-group of up to four Fellows, leading them in specific exercises during the Boston sessions.  These smaller groups will continue to meet virtually with their coaches each month of the training year, to learn together how to problem-solve real world challenges. Leadership Coaches will also be available to each participant individually throughout the year. 

Each Fellow will also be assigned an individual Editorial Mentor, a senior executive at the public media series, stations or organizations that will offer the “embed” training to the Fellow, as described in the next section.  The Mentors will first work with their Fellows during the Immersion Week, when they will design individual Editorial Plans for the embed weeks.  This will ensure those weeks are productive for leadership training and will directly help the Fellows navigate their careers in television, radio, and/or digital media.

At the heart of the plans that the Mentors and Fellows create will be four week-long periods when the Fellow joins the Mentor at work and participates in key programming leadership experiences.  This will provide real-life, hands-on experience at established PBS and Public Radio projects, giving the Fellow the opportunity both to observe leadership in action and to make contributions to major series.

As an example, a Fellow whose Mentor is senior staff at NOVA may have the following opportunities during the four weeks of embed. This example is meant to illustrate the kind of experience that a Fellow working in television might have; Fellows working in other media would be offered embed placements related to their own work.

• Week One:  The Fellow shadows NOVA’s senior producer or executive producer, gaining an understanding of the project staff structure and editorial processes, and examining early stage research and development issues on a project.  The Fellow would also be exposed to critical funding issues at this early stage, for example, looking at how to gain support from different sources.
• Week Two:  The Fellow returns to the unit to take part in editorial meetings at the pre-production phase, reviewing shooting scripts, schedules, and final budget adjustments.  He/she will gain experience in leadership-level work on series strategy, as the unit works with departments like Station Relations, National Marketing, Educational Outreach, and Digital.
• Week Three:  The Fellow spends a week with NOVA’s editorial team as they focus on post-production, seeing how a particular episode evolves.  The Fellow may track the same project from earlier embed weeks, or he/she may switch to a different film in the series, to ensure a wide range of hands-on learning.
• Week Four:  The Fellow returns at a final editorial phase (for example, picture lock) and participates in the final preparations for launch of new program or mini-series.  The Fellow may also participate in discussions about co-productions and acquisitions with other production organizations worldwide.

The rhythm and details of the embed experience will depend on what type of program the Fellow works with.  

NGL will look for some applicants who are station-based, some who come from independent communities of diverse media makers, and others who are transitioning to public media.  However, all applications must include support from a public media station, creating a “sending” station relationship for the training year and beyond.  NGL will provide further information and help for applicants who are unsure of how to engage with a public media station. For more information, see the FAQ.

As part of their training, the Fellows will conduct seminars and informal sessions (for example, brown bag lunches or in-station presentations) at the sending station, sharing their new experiences and information from the NGL training.

Each sending station will also receive a day of free management workshops that will focus on best practices in creating and sustaining a climate where diverse professionals can thrive and all staff can excel.

• The Senior Editorial Fellows will travel to and participate in the PBS Annual Meeting or the annual Public Radio Programming Conference. This will give the Fellows exposure to what’s in the public media pipeline and a chance to meet with top PBS, Public Radio, and CPB executives.  At the end of the training year, when NGL updates stations and series about the Fellows, it will remind hiring managers that the highly trained candidates for senior leadership they met at these annual meetings will be available soon for their projects.
• The Senior Editorial Fellows will also convene for a session in Washington, DC with David A. Thomas, dean of Georgetown’s Business School and author of Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America.  This session may be held at CPB, PBS or NPR, and will be open to their executives and staff, creating another networking opportunity for the Fellows.

The program will conclude with three days of final sessions, led by the Fellows’ Leadership Coaches and Editorial Mentors.  With their help, the Fellows will complete individual playbooks that will enable them to map out their career strategies. This will be an exciting send-off after eleven months of intensive work that will prepare the Senior Editorial Fellows to become important public media programming leaders.