The Pipeline Project offers the 21st Century Fellows Program to managers of color working at LGBT human rights and advocacy organizations with the intention of retaining and advancing these fellows in the field. The year-long leadership program aims to: build fellows’ leadership skills through a Rockwood Leadership Institute curriculum, create lasting peer networks, facilitate fellows’ advancement into executive positions and support their work to build stronger organizations. The program is supported by the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the Arcus Foundation and the Gill Foundation.

In 2010, the Pipeline Project engaged Informing Change to conduct an evaluation of the Program’s pilot year. Based on the evaluation and the Program experience, staff made adjustments as they moved into their second year. In late 2011, the Pipeline Project engaged Informing Change again to examine the individual and organizational impacts, as well as career advancements among program alumni and perceived effectiveness of program components.