Marcus Owens, executive director of the African American Leadership Forum (AALF), speaks about the economic and social impacts of recent events on the Black community, and shares how AALF continues to engage emerging Black leaders to create spaces for economic growth, leadership development and healing.

“It’s really about community,” says Marcus. ”We have to get out of this idea that there is a monolithic leader that will move us forward. If you look back at the days of the Civil Rights movement, when we had Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcom X, and many others that were prominent and vocal leaders — there were so many other people around them that led and did things behind the scenes that moved that movement forward. We have to see ourselves in this moment right now that everyone has a role to play.”

One way AALF builds leaders is through the Josie R. Johnson Leadership Academy.

“The Academy is really about saying, how do we invest in the leadership of our community? ‘These are the emerging leaders, whether they’re emerging because they’re young, or emerging because they found a new way to lead in community?’”