This admission statement came out of some valuable suggestions given to them by an advisory group of women of color. But the Leadership Institute for Tomorrow (LIFT) moves them beyond this admission to rectification of the issue. LIFT is designed to “support the hiring, promotion, advancement, and leadership of women of color in administrative and management opportunities.” I talked with Joan Kennedy, the Assistant Director of ICADV, about this program.

After receiving inspiration to develop leaders of color at a national conference, the small ICADV staff developed their own curriculum and started recruitment, hoping to receive funding. But after six different grant applications were denied (even though they normally have an 90% success rate for grants), they decided to continue with the project. This not only meant more work for the already overworked staff, but also some fiscal sacrifices. So now when staff, like Joan, go away to read grants for a weekend in Washington, DC, they often give their stipends for those projects to fund the LIFT program.

LIFT is a one-year program which requires six full weekends of training on curriculum of grant writing, the dynamics of domestic and sexual assault, domestic violence and children, courtroom, and other, similar topics. The goal is to place trainees into the position of Executive Director for domestic violence and sexual assault programs across the state—and they eventually hope to place women throughout the nation. Even though the first class of seven women hasn’t even graduated yet, one of them already has accomplished that goal.

Evelyn Garrison, the new Executive Director of L.U.N.A. (Latinas Unidas por un Nuevo Amanecer), has an extensive history of work in domestic violence. She’s served with Americorps for the ICADV and as parent educator in the African American community, among other things. She says that the LIFT program “obviously was a great idea.” After having a “lot of information crammed into three days” several times per year through the program, she now has a great network of women who went through the classes with her, as well as several mentors who are “on speed dial” and are available to help her even on Friday nights (not just “monday through friday from 8:30 to 5″).

But one of the best things about the LIFT program in her eyes is the voice it has given to African American perspectives on domestic violence in Iowa. Evelyn agrees with the ICADV—having an organization without “a number of black women” is a “huge obstacle” for the organization. Similarly, Joan Kennedy talks about the need to “change the face” of the leadership on domestic violence issues in Iowa. And now ICADV, because of it’s proactive stance, is learning from the LIFT participants about how to better meet the needs of this community.