About

FUSE is a national nonprofit that is working to expand social and economic opportunities, especially for communities that have been limited by a history of systemic and institutionalized racism.
 

We work in cities and counties because we recognize that the most effective and enduring vision for systems change emerges at the local level by working closely with communities.

Through FUSE’s Executive Fellowship in local government, we provide our regional partners with support to clarify that vision, leadership that is focused on enacting it, and the capacity needed to help achieve lasting change.

FUSE embeds experienced professionals who represent the communities we serve in local government agencies, where they lead strategic projects that achieve specific goals. This work is designed to build on existing initiatives and to accelerate progress by reimagining systems, policies, and programs to better serve every community member.

Our work focuses on issues such as affordable housing and homelessness; workforce training and living-wage jobs; pandemic response and health equity; education reform and digital access; public safety and justice reform; climate resilience and green infrastructure; and more.

We are dedicated to sharing the insights that emerge from this work to inspire civic leaders across the country to think and act differently in their efforts to achieve systemic change and racial equity.

FUSE has worked on over 250 projects in 37 cities and counties across 18 states serving a combined population of 19 million people. The majority of our alumni continue to work in civic leadership and nearly all our government partners return each year with requests for additional projects.

Program

The FUSE Executive Fellowship program is a one to two year full-time public service role in city or county government. Our fellows partner with senior government leaders and community members to lead strategic projects that employ a strengths-based approach, advance racial equity, and address the most pressing challenges facing communities.

We develop each project by working closely with our government and community partners to create a fellowship that is based on local needs.

We recruit experienced leaders for each project and provide year-round coaching, training, and support to help ensure that FUSE Executive Fellows achieve their highest potential for impact.

In partnership with government and community stakeholders, FUSE Executive Fellows create solutions tailored to local needs.

What We Bring

Equity Lens
We work to embed racial, gender, and socioeconomic equity in every project to help our government partners address root problems affecting communities who have faced systemic and institutionalized barriers.

Cross-Sector Expertise
Complex challenges require a broad set of tools. We leverage strategies from the private, public, and social sectors to bring new approaches to the most pressing challenges. The FUSE community of fellows, alumni, and partners also represents a deep bench of cross-sector experience from which fellows can draw to build best practices and drive innovation.

Community Engagement
We provide new strategies for civic engagement and utilize human-centered design to ensure that community perspectives are at the forefront of every project and solution.

Network Building
Our executive fellows forge collaboration between different departments and levels of government, as well as partners in the private sector and social sector. FUSE Executive Fellows and government hosts also become part of the FUSE community, which represents an extensive network of professionals with experience in different sectors, issue areas, and geographies.

Sustained Impact
To make substantive improvements to government programs, our FUSE Executive Fellows help design long-term action plans and promote changes in organizational culture that ensure the sustainability of their work. Some of the ways our fellows do this is by helping to pass new legislation, designing and implementing new programs, creating and institutionalizing process improvements, building the capacity of government and community partners, and mobilizing new resources for the communities they serve.

Experienced Talent
Our FUSE Executive Fellows, distinguished by their ability to collaborate and bring new approaches and diverse perspectives, average over 15 years of leadership experience and come prepared to leverage their expertise to work alongside government partners.

Shared Insights
As an organization dedicated to continuous learning, we’re committed to surfacing and sharing the insights from our work to inspire civic leaders around the country.