By Vera Emoghene
When Dr. Herman Felton and his co-founders looked at the landscape of HBCU leadership a decade ago, what they saw was not a crisis yet. It was a warning. Leaders were aging out, the bench was thin, and the next generation had not been prepared for what was coming. So they built something. The Higher Education Leadership Foundation, known as HELF, was the answer, and 10 years later, the results are hard to argue with.
Nearly 500 fellows have come through HELF’s programs across 17 cohorts. Sixteen alumni are now sitting HBCU presidents. Close to a third hold cabinet-level positions at institutions across the country. And the organization is still growing, still refining, and still asking the question that started it all: who is next?
Gap-finding as a leadership tool
At the core of HELF’s model is a principle Dr. Felton describes simply but with conviction. “If folk can close the gap in their deficiencies, if they can identify them and name them, it is sort of like the analogy of a doctor,” he said. “First, you must find the illness, and once you know that, there is medicine to be applied or measures to take.”
That philosophy shapes everything from the curriculum to the culture inside HELF’s programs. Fellows are not just given information. They are guided through a process of examining their own leadership styles, identifying their blind spots, and learning how to close the distance between where they are and where they need to be.
Building the pipeline from the bottom
One of the most important shifts HELF has made in recent years is expanding who it serves. The organization started by focusing on mid to senior-level administrators, but demand outpaced capacity fast. The solution was a program called the Mighty Middle.
“When you peel back the layers at an institution, they are the folks that are driving transformation and driving change,” Dr. Felton said of front-line staff and assistant directors. “They have high rates of continuity. They have a great deal of institutional knowledge and memory. They deserve to be poured into as well.”
The Mighty Middle runs for six months and focuses on personal leadership pathways and the connection between the key areas of institutional life. The Leadership Institute, meanwhile, serves vice presidents, provosts, and EVPs who are already operating at the cabinet level and need to be at their sharpest to help guide their institutions forward.
What HBCUs are up against right now
HELF’s 10th anniversary came at a complicated moment. DEI rollbacks, federal funding uncertainty, and questions around the future of the Department of Education have created what Dr. Felton calls a fog of war for HBCU leaders across the country.
“What we are going through now is different, but it is nowhere close to what our ancestors faced,” he said. “Even the founders of these institutions, many of them were burnt down and built again. Many of them have been underfunded for years. This is really nothing new. It is a different flavor.”
He draws on his background as a Marine to describe the posture he believes HBCU leaders need to take right now. Prepared for anything. Waiting to see how it shakes out. Ready to move.
How to get involved
For those who want to support HBCUs, Dr. Felton keeps the ask straightforward. Financial support matters. So does helping students find pathways into internships and externships. And showing up, regardless of background, for institutions that have always shown up for their communities.
“That is independent of color, of race, of creed,” he said. “The community needs to coalesce around excelling at a time like this and closing ranks.”
