BOLD TRAINING INSTITUTE
Milestones in Leadership Development
Since our founding, we’ve been committed to developing embodied leaders that organizations need to meet this moment. From our early days conducting research, we have evolved into a comprehensive training institution that inspires individuals to harness their potential.
Founding Year: 2010
BOLD vision concept paper co-created by Social Justice Leadership (Ng’ethe Maina) & Center for Third World Directors (Danielle Mahones). Founding Advisory Council: Dushaw Hocket, Alta Starr, Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, Gloria Walton, Charlene Sinclair, Ng’ethe Maina, Danielle Mahones, Marquese Harris-Dawson, Steve Williams, Steve Pitts, Kevin Ryan, Derrick Johnson, Adrianne Shropshire, Denise Perry.
2011
-Denise Perry conducts an initial needs assessment of Black organizers across the country that lays the foundation for BOLD programming.
-First meeting of founding Advisory Council. Generated BOLD name, mission & programs. First staff: Director and Trainer hired.
First Cohort: 2012
First BOLD cohort selected and Program Begins. First Program Coordinator Hired (Thomas Assefa). First Amandla Organizing Training, Evaluator Zuri Murphy joins the BOLD team.
2013
First National Gathering convenes 40 BOLD alumni and partners, BOLD pilots new Mentor Program and Electoral Organizing Camp.
2014
BOLD becomes independent of founding organizations.
First Evaluation: 2017
The BOLD Report: Black Organizing and Movement Building in these Dynamic Times, an evaluation of BOLD at 5 years, is written by N’Tanya Lee, Prudence Brown & Zuri Murphy.
International Delegation: 2018
BOLD co-hosts first international delegation to Haiti with Grassroots International. BOLD celebrates major milestones: Increased teaching team from 5-12 trainers from across the country; doubled the number of graduates from the Directors Training and Amandla Organizers Training, and tripled the number of alumni attending National Gathering.
Land Stewardship: 2022
BOLD becomes land stewards of 105 acre farm and retreat space in Middle Georgia.
Co-Directorship: 2023
In a defining moment of organizational maturity, BOLD moved to a co-executive directorship model — pairing the founding vision with the operational and resource mobilization expertise to lead the organization into its next chapter. Adopting a Co-Executive Director model reflected BOLD's commitment to building the kind of sustainable, coordinated leadership that we develop in others.
A New Name, A Deeper Commitment: 2025
In 2025 BOLD became BOLD Training Institute. This names the truth our bodies have known: that this is a dojo, a practice hall, a place where we train not just our minds but our whole selves for the long work of liberation. "Institute" might sound formal, but to us it means we're committed to rigor, depth, and creating practices that can hold the complexity of our historical moment. It means we're building infrastructure that will outlast us.
Our Core Values
At the heart of BOLD’s vision is a simple conviction: that the people most affected by injustice are the ones most equipped to lead the transformation of the systems that created it.
Key Achievements and Progress
Here’s a look at what we’ve accomplished: from successful trainings to gatherings, we’ve made strides that matter. Your support enables us to keep pushing forward and achieving more.