Of late, there has been a steady increase in the number of articles about the fact that a generation of foundation leadership is stepping down or preparing to do so………………. That’s certainly true, but what is the field doing to ensure that the new CEOs will be well prepared to assume their predecessors’ positions? I would venture to observe, with notable exceptions, that it doesn’t devote a lot of thought or resources to this challenge. Indeed, all too often, the resignation of a foundation CEO sets in motion a national search that produces a candidate with no philanthropic experience. Sometimes it’s a good match; sometimes not………………. When I was with the Southeastern Council of Foundations, I had a hand in creating a successful program to introduce relative newcomers in the field to the world of philanthropy. But now what I think we should introduce is a new competitive program for people already in the field who are potential foundation CEOs—a program that would be so good and so successful that every foundation looking for an executive would examine that pool of individuals before launching an open-ended search………………..I realize that there’s no way to equip someone for everything involves in being the president of a foundation. People grow in wisdom on the job. But it could give them a running start. I envision the curriculum including far more than the mechanics of grant making. It also would delve into the dynamics of board-CEO relations, the best management practices, the standards by which measure true success, and—most important—how to position a foundation to be a community, regional, or national leader………………..From my biased perspective, the kind of program I’m proposing would create a cadre of thoughtful, well-rounded professionals to help lead our field for the coming decades. When we think of professionals, our thoughts tend to turn to attorneys, physicians, and other talented practitioners of specialized skills. How about beginning to imagine foundation leadership as an equally viable profession………………..Is anybody ready to organize and fund a training program of this kind? Some of the “old-timers” who are leaving the field would probably constitute a wonderful advisory board for this project.