Why Leadership Development is the Investment Philanthropy Can’t Skip: Inside Líderes Cohort 10’s Closing Retreat
Over the past year, twenty Latine leaders in philanthropy and social impact have met for our leadership development program, showing up as strangers, leaving as a community. When our 2025 - 2026 Líderes Cohort 10 gathered for their closing retreat in Los Angeles, they arrived carrying a year of transformation with them.
That is one of the core reasons that our 350+ alumni network remains so strong.
There had been new jobs and new homes, grief and growth. There had been moments of uncertainty alongside moments of possibility. And throughout it all, there had been the relationships built through in-person gatherings at the beginning and close of the fellowship, group coaching, communities of practice, and cafecitos.
Our retreat facilitators from Root to Bloom, shared some of their reflections on the gathering, giving us a peek into what this cohort of Líderes carried forward.
Grounding During Turbulent Times
One of the first exercises invited Líderes to notice where they were arriving emotionally and physically. The cohort was relatively grounded at the start. Only a couple of people described themselves as being in a “storm.”
When the question shifted to, “how are you feeling in relation to your work?,” the answer changed dramatically. The “storm” jumped to over half the group.
As Root to Bloom shared with us, “That contrast tells its own story. Even for a cohort that arrived fairly grounded, the work itself is where the activation lives.”
These are leaders holding work in a turbulent moment. Across the cohort some were navigating hostile political climates, difficult management dynamics, the pressure to constantly be “on,” and the weight of being responsible to communities while also trying to sustain themselves.
Several Líderes named the guilt and shame that can accompany that pressure: feeling like they are the problem, feeling guilty about rest, or questioning whether they are competent or present enough. But the facilitators also noticed something equally important: the cohort knew what grounds them.
Relationship. Rest. Therapy and care practices. Family. Movement. Good food. A change of environment. And, repeatedly, the safety of the cohort itself.
The throughline was clear: this is a cohort holding demanding work, and the regulation they find tends to come from connection, care, and permission to not be “on” all the time.
What They Were Ready to Release
Shortly after, the gathering moved conversation forward to address burnout and boundaries.
Líderes named what depletes them: caretaking, family guilt, the tension between community responsibility and self-flourishing, working multiple jobs, the pressure to generate capital, and the expectation to advocate for everyone except themselves.
They were invited to name what they wanted to release and what they wanted to hold close.
They were ready to release imposter syndrome, fear of failure, limiting beliefs, overthinking, self-doubt, the pressure to be perfect, the cycle of always hustling, and the belief that productivity is a measure of worth.
They also named the fear of asking for funding, the fear of letting go, and the fear of doing it all alone.
But the list of what they wanted to keep was just as powerful: abundance, intuition and confidence, self-care, joy, love, inspiration, revolutionary optimism, grace, vulnerability, and ancestral wisdom.
The exercise offered a powerful reflection on leadership. It showed that growth does not always mean adding more to our plates or becoming more productive versions of ourselves. Sometimes it means releasing what keeps us from recognizing what we already carry.
The Work Ahead is Relational
The retreat also created space for Líderes to step outward and think about the systems they are working to change.
The facilitators saw movement in how the cohort understood the relationships already in front of them. Rather than always reaching for something new, Líderes recognized the possibility of deepening and activating existing relationships—particularly within funder collaboratives.
They explored the intersections between philanthropy, government, cities, community organizations, and movements, recognizing that systems change often happens between sectors rather than within a single one. Across conversations about immigration, youth, the census, education, policing, and the prison pipeline, these questions kept resurfacing: How do we hack wealth? How does money move? Who controls it? Who has access? And how might we redirect power and capital?
The cohort also pushed beyond familiar boundaries, including an invitation to “flip the globe.” Meaning to imagine philanthropy through a different geographic lens and consider what becomes possible when we globalize our understanding of power and resources.
Across these conversations, a clear pattern emerged in the commitments made: many centered on relationships that already exist and relationships that can be activated.
A Year of Becoming
On the final day, the cohort turned inward once again. In the closing circle, Líderes reflected on what had changed since they first applied to the fellowship.
For some, the changes were tangible: new jobs, homes, and friendships. For others, the transformation was internal. They had worked through things they hadn't realized they were carrying, found healing around identity and family, learned to care for themselves differently, and become more comfortable showing up fully and authentically.
But one theme surfaced again and again: family and community.
For several Líderes, the cohort had become family. One fellow shared that when they were first accepted into the program, they hesitated to join, unsure if they would find people who reflected their identities or would accept them as they were. By the end, they said they'd found a true community, a family. One participant invited their partner to the gathering the same way they normally would invite someone to a family event.
Others described how the cohort made the philanthropic sector feel less isolating. After spending so much time working behind screens, being together reconnected them to a sense of community they hadn't realized they had lost.
That belonging also created room for another kind of growth: self-trust.
Many Líderes spoke about long-standing self-doubt and how the consistent encouragement of the cohort helped them begin to believe in themselves, take bets on themselves, and step more fully into leadership.
As HIP’s VP of Movement Building & Infrastructure, Jazmin Chavez, shared in her closing reflection, she often looks at what is not said in a fellowship application—the things underneath the accomplishments and ambitions. What she recognized in this cohort was a deep need for community.
Over the course of the year, that need for community became a source of strength.
As we close the 2026 Líderes Fellowship, we are celebrating more than a cohort completing a program. We are celebrating a community that has learned to hold purpose and humanity, individual growth and collective power, action and rest.
The fellowship may be closing, but the relationships are just beginning to move.