Systems Leadership Fellowship for Queer & Trans Leaders

Overview

The Systems Leadership Fellowship is a 18 month program designed to support queer and trans leaders in St. Louis to navigate complexity, strengthen resilience, and drive systemic change in partnership with SQSH.

Through a blend of systems thinking, somatic practices, coaching, and peer learning, Fellows build the skills to lead with clarity, work across difference, and respond to challenges like burnout, conflict, and rapid social change.

The program brings together a diverse cohort of local leaders to deepen relationships, align strategies, and strengthen the broader queer ecosystem—laying the groundwork for more connected, sustainable, and impactful leadership across the region.

My Role

Working in partnership with SQSH and Brooking Gatewood of the Emergence Collective, I partnered closely with the core team through ongoing co-design sessions to shape the Fellowship’s strategy and delivery. This includes:

• Co-developing the Fellowship’s core structure, goals, and learning arc

• Designing a systems leadership competencies framework to guide curriculum and evaluation

• Supporting cohort design, including participant profiles and selection criteria

• Shaping program methodology, integrating systems thinking, somatics, and peer learning

This initiative responded to a complex landscape: queer and trans leaders in St. Louis are navigating burnout, fragmentation, and systemic pressures, while lacking shared infrastructure for collaboration, reflection, and long-term strategy.

The Approach

We worked together to co-design, systems-informed approach to build the Fellowship in partnership with SQSH:

• Established a clear curriculum and delivery model integrating systems practice and resilience

• Built a foundation for stronger relationships and collaboration across the local ecosystem

• Created tools and frameworks for ongoing evaluation, learning, and future cohorts

• Developed a clear set of leadership competencies

• Designed an integrated experience combining retreats, coaching, group learning, and peer pods

• Embedded somatic and trauma-informed practices to support resilience and relational leadership

• Centered ecosystem-building, creating space for shared strategy and trust across organizations

• Each element was designed to connect personal leadership development with broader systems change.The Outcome

• Developed a full suite of audience personas guiding engagement and messaging

• Established a clear roadmap for outreach, partnership, and education efforts

• Positioned the initiative for pilot campaigns and cross-sector collaboration

This work reframed leadership development as both a strategic and relational practice, supporting not just individual leaders, but the conditions for a more connected, resilient, and aligned queer ecosystem in St. Louis.