LEADERSHIP DELI
Lead with VISION
Christiana Allen-Pipkin, Leadership Deli ’22
The Moment is Now. Are You Ready?
We are in an era that demands more than leadership as usual. In a time of deep uncertainty, rising authoritarianism, and systemic inequities, we need leaders who are unshakable in their vision and bold in their action. Leaders who don’t just dream of a better future, but build it.
That’s where Leadership Deli comes in.
Since 2014, we’ve equipped 350+ leaders and 100+ organizations with the tools, strategies, and networks to not just navigate—but transform—their communities and institutions. This is not just another leadership program. It’s a space where changemakers sharpen their skills, build collective power, and forge the relationships necessary to push for radical, lasting change.
If you feel the weight of this moment and know you’re called to step up—don’t do it alone. Join a powerful community of visionaries, risk-takers, and builders who are ready to meet this moment together.
Don’t wait. The future is shaped by those who show up.
Applications for Leadership Deli 2025 are now closed. Click below to get future updates!
Why Leadership DELI and why NEW?
Our communities and organizations are stronger when we share our learnings and collaborate with each other. We need space to reflect, strengthen, and build skills that help leaders steward their missions. Leadership Deli drives connections between mission-driven leaders who can support each other in realizing their visions.
“I feel more confident to envision and implement the changes I know need to happen because I now have more tools to guide the process. Meeting others doing similar work and hearing about their hurdles brought a sense of realness and reflection. It reinforced what I knew deep down — that we can tackle this challenging work, even when it’s hard, and use strategies to make it feel lighter and more engaging. Especially as we navigate multifaceted, complex roles dealing with people and difficult problems daily.”
Katie Williams, University Prep Art & Design
Abbey Davis
Organizational Development Consultant, NEW
THE Leadership DELI EXPERIENCE
Leadership Deli is a cohort learning experience for visionary leaders in organizations of all stages and sizes. Across eight (8) four-hour (4 hour) sessions, you will learn relational tools to challenge and disrupt outdated concepts of leadership. You will find community and new ways of thinking and being alongside other developing and flourishing leaders. You will feel inspired to reimagine how organizations can and should behave in a changing world. Through compelling content, relationship-centered activities, and a delicious lunch, each session of Leadership Deli will leave with a full mind, heart, and stomach.
Throughout Leadership Deli, you will:
- Develop a vision for the future and support one another in activating these visions.
- Gain new tools and knowledge to improve your leadership skills, tailored to the realities of mission-driven work.
- Cultivate connections with a community of equity and justice-minded leaders in Southeast Michigan.
SESSIONS
Visionary leadership takes insight from across the social sector. Leadership Deli convenes our community’s leading experts to share business and leadership lessons with you. Your facilitators include ZingTrain, Henry Ford Learning Institute, the Dispute Resolution Center, and NEW.
Orientation & Ways of Being
Friday, February 28th (02/28/25), 10:30 am – 12 pm
In this engaging and fun session, you’ll meet the rest of your cohort. Together, you’ll solidify your aims and aspirations for the experience, and get a sense of what’s to come.
Led by NEW
Soul Care
Friday, March 14th (03/14/25), 9 am – 1 pm
Strong leaders are self-aware and centered. We’ll start by thinking through how we care for ourselves as leaders. Then, we’ll explore how we cultivate an ethic of compassion and human wholeness in our teams. Together, we’ll examine what’s most important in our work and how we accomplish it.
Led by NEW
Creating Cultures of Belonging
Friday, March 21st (03/21/25), 9 am – 1 pm
Important, complex questions lie before today’s leaders. How can we unlock the potential and possibility needed to radically transform our communities? How can we honor the ecosystem and the whole? How can we design and act in ways that bend the long arc of history towards balance and harmony? As leaders, we’re all being called to higher ground. We must help each other, and those we work alongside, to heal from collective harm.
In this session, we’ll explore principles and practices for cultivating cultures of learning and courageous leadership.
Led by NEW
Visioning
Friday, April 4th (04/04/25), 9 am – 1 pm
A session where we’ll slow down, reflect, and dream together. Visioning is a practice of imagining what could be—a liberating act of hope rooted in our deepest values. It invites us to think beyond today’s challenges and consider the future we long for, recognizing that dreaming itself can be a privilege not afforded to all.
Together, we’ll explore the possibilities of what the next 50, 20, or even 5 years could hold if we collectively act toward equity and justice. Through guided reflection and meaningful dialogue, you’ll craft a personal vision of success- one you can see, feel, and work toward. You’ll also gain tools to strengthen your leadership practice and connect with others committed to creating a more just and equitable world.
Building Empathy Through Design Thinking
Friday, April 11th (04/11/25), 9 am – 1 pm
The search for transformational solutions requires us to creatively engage with clients and other stakeholders. In this session, Henry Ford Learning Institute shares their expertise in human-centered design (Design Thinking), a collection of methods that allow us to reframe problems and act on them. You’ll learn to approach problems and relationships with new perspectives and build deeper empathy for your team, organization, communities, and/or clients.
After Hours
Wednesday, April 16th (04/16/25), 4 pm – 6 pm
Come out for an evening of connection and community-building across cohorts, past and present.
Bottom-Line Change
Friday, April 25th (04/25/25), 9 am – 1 pm
Whether you love it or don’t, you probably agree that change is challenging. Creating it. Having it “done to” you. Making it stick. Helping it work. After learning that there will always be change to deal with, Zingerman’s came up with a recipe – Bottom Line Change® – that they use to roll out all organizational changes, from moving the office printer to opening a new business. Learn the recipe for making change a lot less stressful for all involved and a lot more likely to stick and, best of all, for getting people in the organization rooting for its success!
Led by ZingTrain
Restorative Leadership
Friday, May 9th (05/09/25), 9 am – 1 pm
Conflict is inevitable, especially when we’re working towards social change and cultures of belonging. Let’s get clear on what conflict is and how it shows up at all levels: internally, interpersonally, and organizationally. Restorative leaders have a clear understanding of how their identities and experiences influence how they build relationships, communicate, and engage in conflict.
Led by NEW and The Dispute Resolution Center
Activating Your Vision
Friday, May 16th (05/16/24), 9 am – 1 pm
In this final, energizing session, we’ll shift from imagining the future to making it real. Together, we’ll explore strategies for activating your vision, identifying spheres of influence, and developing approaches to communicate your vision. Through practice and supportive feedback, you’ll refine how you share your vision to inspire others, invite collaboration, and drive meaningful impact. This session is designed to help you step confidently into your role as a visionary leader, equipped to bring your vision to life and build pathways toward the future you envision
Led by NEW
A FEW OF OUR Participating peers- Past & Present
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do I know if Leadership DELI is right for me and my organization?
Do you have influence and a vision for a just and thriving society? Leadership Deli is ideal for new and seasoned leaders, nonprofit and/or community-based leaders, and people seeking to disrupt outdated models of leadership. If you’re committed to creating and sharing a vision for yourself and your organization, creating a vibrant culture of belonging, and fostering community with other mission-driven leaders, this experience is for you.
Leadership Deli is open to leaders from across SE Michigan, and each organization is invited to send up to two (2) team members to join in Leadership Deli. We believe the qualities of a leader live in each of us, in small and big ways through our sphere of influence. We honor the expanse of leadership and its many forms. We recognize that your title might not fall within a traditional “leadership” role such as CEO or Executive Director.
How much does Leadership DELI cost?
Leadership Deli has a tiered participation fee structure because we recognize that everyone has unique financial circumstances. We strive to honor your financial circumstances and will do our best to make it work. Your ability to pay will in no way affect your application to the program.
The actual cost of Leadership Deli is four thousand five hundred dollars ($4,500) per organization, which NEW further subsidizes through contributions. These contributions give organizations the flexibility to pay a participation fee of three thousand dollars ($3,000), two thousand dollars ($2,000), one thousand dollars ($1,000), or another amount that closely aligns with your financial capacities.
We appreciate any payment you are able to provide for your participation in Leadership Deli. Your payment goes directly towards the program’s expenses such as facilitator time, session supplies, and delicious meals for our in person gatherings. Contributions from those with the ability to pay allows us to provide the highest quality experience while keeping Leadership Deli accessible for all.
We encourage prospective applicants to seek sponsorship from their organization, as you’ll gain skills to help foster a more vision and values-driven organization. If you are being sponsored or supported by your organization, you will be asked in your application to share the participation fee that best aligns with your organization’s expectations and ability to pay.
For individuals paying for themselves, please review and reflect upon the ‘Green Bottle Framework’. Which “bottle” best describes your financial situation? After reflecting, you will be asked to select a participation fee that you feel aligns with your circumstances.
How are participants selected?
Applications for the next cohort of Leadership Deli will open on January 6th, 2025 (01/06/25) at 9am until February 3rd, 2025 (02/03/25) at 9am.
Please invite two (2) members of your team to apply to participate in Leadership Deli. Prior experience has taught us that this is one of the best ways to impact institutional change. Having someone to reflect with and bounce ideas off of, both during and after the program, makes a difference.
Decisions: Communicated on or around Friday, February 7 (02/07/25).
To join Leadership Deli you and your organization must be:
- Open to learning, ready to engage, and willing to be vulnerable.
- Ready to grow on your own and as a collective. You must be willing to lean into discussions that challenge the status quo.
- Committed to deepening relationships in our community. Participants are expected to fully engage in all sessions to cultivate a shared learning space.
In all of our Learning Communities, NEW strives to bring together diverse cohorts of people with a wide range of lived experiences. This fosters more learning, creativity, and innovation. As we pursue a just and thriving society, we also center our work on the people and communities that have been historically underrepresented or marginalized.
This means taking intentional action to include people who have been excluded, denied access, or limited in their influence based on: race or ethnicity, age, ability status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and other markers of identity. As we’re building our cohort, we’ll consider all of the identities you share with us, with a promise not to tokenize or penalize you based on “what boxes you check”.
Interested in joining the Leadership Deli community? Click the button below to sign up for updates.
What's the schedule for 2025?
All sessions listed below are required for participants to attend unless otherwise noted. Sessions will take place in person at NEW, located at 1100 N. Main St. Ann Arbor. Sessions will run from 9 am – 1 pm and include a catered lunch with the cohort from 12 – 1 pm.
We will monitor and adhere to Wayne County and CDC guidelines related to COVID-19 for all in-person gatherings.
| Session | Date |
| Orientation & Ways of Being |
Friday, February 28th |
| Soul Care |
Friday, March 14th |
|
Creating Cultures of Belonging |
Friday, March 21st |
|
Visioning |
Friday, April 4th |
|
Building Empathy Through Design Thinking
|
Friday, April 11th |
|
After Hours (Social Gathering) |
Wednesday, April 16th |
| Bottom-Line Change |
Friday, April 25th |
| Restorative Leadership |
Friday, May 9th |
| Activating Your Vision |
Friday, May 16th |