The 2025 Open Buffalo Emerging Leaders Class at their graduation ceremony in November 2025.
The Application for Open Buffalo’s Emerging Leaders Class of 2026 Is Now Open
Published February 6, 2026
Calling all up-and-coming change agents! Open Buffalo is again recruiting community members to join the ranks of over 200 Emerging Leaders and counting. 2025 was a cohort for the record books, with the tenth anniversary of the program’s launch, the graduation of our 200th leader, and a brand-new campaign to revise the Buffalo City Charter. What legacy could you build as a member of our Class of 2026?
This four-month, cohort-based leadership development program trains social-justice-minded individuals in leadership skills, community organizing, advocacy campaigns, media and public relations, research, Western New York socioeconomic history, and more. Post-graduation support also connects alumni to pipelines where they can access leadership roles in government, education, and the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Acceptance to the program is equivalent to a $6,000 scholarship to ensure that finances are not a barrier to advancing your leadership skills.
Graduates of the program include powerhouse leaders like community activist and organizer India Walton (2015), Buffalo Poet Laureate Emerita and Emmy winner Jillian Hanesworth (2017), and Every Bottom Covered Founder and Executive Director Raziya Hill (2020).
Of the impact of the Emerging Leaders Program, 2025 graduate and founder of Community Wellness Works, LaTeesha McElrath said, “The Emerging Leaders Program gave me more than professional development, it gave me community.”
Emerging Leaders “impacted my growth as a leader by helping me to learn the importance of being open to new ideas, and to respect others’ ways of processing information,” said 2025 Graduate Maritza Vega.
This year’s cohort will run from mid-July through November, including a rustic retreat July 17-19, 16 weeks of workshops, a Buffalo history bus tour, and a group organizing project that provides leaders with hands-on experience in creating the change they want to see in their community. Applications are open now and close March 31.
Have questions? Click one of the links below to register for a virtual information session:
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Deadline to apply is March 31, 2026.
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Download a copy of the Application Questions here.
Contact Leslie Nickerson, Director of Leadership Development, at leslie@openbuffalo.org or 716-243-8777 x104 for information.