Not Your Traditional Leadership Program: Inside the 2026 Horizon Collective

By: Aditi Dholakia, Senior Director of Program & Strategy at Boston Women’s Fund

“...We’re supporting leaders with tools to reject burnout culture, embrace community care as the foundation of leadership, and acknowledge that when we talk about building thriving communities, we have to include ourselves in that vision, too.” — Aditi Dholakia

The sound of laughter echoing off of high ceilings. Reggaeton playing as folks walk into the space, dancing before they even get their coats off. Palpable energy flowing even in a virtual meeting space. Loving hands rubbing the backs of leaders who are finally letting themselves feel and process the weight of holding movements for change on their shoulders.

These are just a few sounds, scenes, and experiences from the first three sessions of Boston Women’s Fund’s Horizon Collective — our six-month leadership development cohort for BIPOC women and gender-expansive leaders. This year, Horizon Collective welcomed 14 leaders to our fifth cohort! Our leaders come from all across Greater Boston, and bring a broad range of professional backgrounds and expertise.

Leadership Support Beyond Titles

Horizon Collective is not your traditional leadership development program. We understand that leadership looks, sounds, and feels like many different things. To us, titles don’t matter — what matters is that our leaders are holding it down, carrying responsibility, and people rely on them to keep the vision alive.

Our program isn’t trying to teach the skill or role of leadership — our leaders already have that on lock. Instead, we’re supporting leaders with tools to reject burnout culture, embrace community care as the foundation of leadership, and acknowledge that when we talk about building thriving communities, we have to include ourselves in that vision, too. When women and gender-expansive leaders of color thrive, so do our movements.

Inside Horizon Collective

In session one, we asked our participants what they hoped would come out of the six-month cohort. Their responses included experiencing relief, ease, joy, and connection in our space, explicitly releasing performance and perfection. They also hope to increase their sense of empowerment, peace, and confidence on the other side of this journey.

Our second session, while virtual due to inclement winter weather, still generated powerful energy and deepened connections amongst the cohort. Where session one was about building community and laying the foundation for our time together, session two made space for more self-reflection. Leaders embraced tenderness, vulnerability, and curiosity as they identified their “Leadership North Stars” and crafted Mantras for themselves.

The theme for our third session was “Flex On ‘Em”, inviting leaders to celebrate their wins, no matter how big or small. Leaders embraced discomfort as we talked about how BIPOC women and gender-expansive folks are so conditioned NOT to ask for help, instead often struggling in silence while trying to hold the weight of all that they carry. We made space for the cohort to practice asking for and offering help, naming that as a win worth flexing, as well!

What’s on the Horizon

As we look ahead to the second half of our sessions, we’ll continue building practices and cultures of collective care. Our leaders deserve to be held as tightly as we know they hold their work and communities. They deserve to pause, to embrace rest and healing as integral to resistance work, and to be poured into such that they continue to endure in our movements and reap some of the rewards of their tireless work.

Though each cohort runs for six months, this program lasts well beyond that time. Our intention is to nurture lasting relationships and connections that hopefully sustain for years to come. Upon the conclusion of cohort five in June, we’ll welcome this phenomenal group of leaders to our Alumni network, where we plan to continue pouring into and celebrating them however we can!

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Announcing The 2026 Horizon Collective Leaders

Colleen Nguyen (she/her)

Executive Director, Asian Women For Health

Dorice Moise (she/her)

Director of Recruitment and Retention, Brooke Charter Schools

Dulce Orozco (she/ella)

Leader, United Latinas’ New England Chapter

Elizabeth Rock (she/her)

Co-Leader, TrailblazHers

Giselle Byrd (she/her)

Executive and Artistic Director, The Theater Offensive

Hema Sarang-Sieminski (she/they)

Executive Director, Jane Doe Inc.

Ilyitch Nahiely Tabora (she/her)

President, TAG Association

Jallicia Jolly (she/her)

Founder and Director, BREHA Collective

Jay Boss (they/them)

Director, F.Y.R.E. at YW Boston

Kendra Patterson (she/her)

Director, Delivering On Equity Collective

Kimberley Richardson (she/her)

Board President, Women Thriving

Rochelle Levy (she/her)

Founder and CEO, Alchemy For Change

Stacey Borden (she/her)

Founder and Executive Director, New Beginnings Reentry Services Inc.

TiElla Grimes (she/her)

Founder and Principal, InnHer Uplift Consulting

Vanny Huot (she/her)

Interim Executive Director, Revere Youth In Action

Follow Boston Women’s Fund on Instagram or LinkedIn for a look at the moving work each member is driving in their community.

Learn more about Horizon Collective here.