1. Tom Adams, Raffa P.C. Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint
Exploring New Connections in Leadership and Organizational Transition: A Case Study Webinar for Board, Staff, Consultants & Funders
Tom Adams, Raffa P.C.
Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint
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2. A Conversation in 5 Parts (90 minutes)
1. THE PREMISE OF THIS WORK
Tom Adams, Raffa P.C.
Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint
2. CASE STUDY: CHILDREN’S INN
Tom Adams, Raffa P.C. – Moderator
Jennie Lucca, CEO
Kelvin Womack, Board Member
Holly Cobb Parker, Board Member
3. CASE STUDY: MAG
Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint – Moderator
Gayle Williams, Board Member
4. RESPONSE PANEL
Rachel Gibson, Senior Consultant, Raffa; Deb Linnell, Senior Program Officer, van Beuren Charitable Foundation; Marissa Tirona, Program Officer, BUILD, Ford Foundation; and Linda Wood, Senior Director
5. Q & A
Ruth McCambridge, Editor in Chief, Nonprofit Quarterly
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3. Part One: The Premise Tom Adams, Raffa P.C. Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint
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4. Exploring new and evolving connections around transition.
Challenging our organizations on who leads and with what leadership beliefs and practices.
Evolving Leadership Ethos
Organizational Transitions
Leadership Transitions
Proactively refining organizational strategy and business model to respond to stakeholder needs and the operating context. Adapting organizational culture and systems in concert.
Preparing for 10% executive turnover across the sector annually. Recruiting and developing leaders through ongoing succession planning.
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5. What do we mean by ETM and “Allied Services?”
Sustainability
Planning
Succession Planning
High
Mission
Impact
Executive
Search and Transition
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6. Leadership & Organizational Transitions: 4 Key Terms
Executive transition and search – three-phase support for change from one executive to another with attendant organizational changes.
Succession planning- ongoing attention to leader continuity and development through attention to planned and unplanned leader changes and the culture and ethos of leadership in the organization, including attention to diversity and inclusion practices. Succession planning definition at end. Such planning mat include the use of an intentional interim leader as CEO or in other key management positions. 
Sustainability planning – ongoing attention to the long-term mission capacity of the organization and changes in leadership, strategy and business model, culture and resources.
Strategic planning – annual and periodic reviews of connection between mission, desired results and strategies for achieving results.
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7. Leadership Ethos
Shared leadership- a leadership style that broadly distributes leadership responsibility…frequently contrasted with more traditional "vertical" or hierarchical" leadership that resides predominantly with an individual instead of a group.
Diversity-  the demographic mix of a specific collection of people, taking into account elements of human difference, but focusing particularly on: racial and ethnic groups, LGBT populations, people with disabilities, and women.
Equity – improving equity is to promote justice, impartiality and fairness within the procedures, processes, and distribution of resources by institutions or systems.
DEFINING ‘ETHOS:’
“the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period”
“This shift—from competition to collaboration, from single issues to intersectionality, from scarcity to collective abundance—requires something different from us as actors for justice …”
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8. Part Two: Children’s Inn
Tom Adams, Raffa P.C. – Moderator
Jennie Lucca, CEO
Kelvin Womack, Board Member
Holly Cobb Parker, Board Member
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9. Transition Milestones & Timeline
Founding Board Member becomes CEO
2005
Discussions of Board Reorg Begun
2012
Board Succession/ Sustainability Task Force Established
2013
Three (3) “Chief” Positions Established to Build Leadership Capacity
2014
Board Reorg Plan Adopted by Board
CEO Transition Committee Selects Internal Candidate/ Exit Planning with Outgoing CEO
2015
Onboarding of New CEO and Completion of Board Reorg
Board Diversity Education Initiative
2017
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10. Speaker: Jennie Lucca, CEO
Predecessor Founder CEO
Preparation for her own transition
Investment in successor’s professional development and preparation
Speaker: Jennie Lucca, CEO
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11. Speaker: Holly Cobb Parker, Board Member
Culture of the board before transitions
Board Reorganization Plan
Expectations of external search and role of consultant
Speaker: Holly Cobb Parker, Board Member
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12. Speaker: Kelvin Womack, Board Member
Concerns about not doing an External Search
Experience as board chair working with incoming executive and role of consultant in supporting onboarding
Board Diversity Initiative
Speaker: Kelvin Womack, Board Member
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13. Speaker: Jennie Lucca, CEO
Trustee Role for Board Members
Sharing leadership with Staff
Culture of support for new ED
Speaker: Jennie Lucca, CEO
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14. Summary of Transition Impacts
Major board reorganization and a founder CEO transition in a way that advanced mission impact, financial resources, and the reputation of the Children’s Inn.
Embraced the best of the founder era leadership while evolving the culture of leader development and shared leadership.
Facilitated a board generational hand-off while maintaining positive relations across generations.
Recognized and addressed need to attend to greater diversity and inclusion.
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15. Part Three: MAG Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint – Moderator
Gayle Williams, Board Member
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16. Transition Milestones & Timeline
Future CO-Directors independently working on shared leadership methods
2008
Previous Executive Director Decides to Step Down
2014
Board & Staff Determine Need to Evolve Business Model and Hire Consultant
Board Member becomes Interim Executive Director
2015
Senior Staff Co-create Internal, Shared Leadership Proposal
IED Supports Full Board in Grappling with Shared Leadership
Consultant Convenes Board-Staff Fishbowl on Shared Leadership Proposal
Board Agrees to Try Co-Directors and Sets Benchmarks 2015
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17. Speaker: Gayle Williams, Board Member & Former Interim Executive
Imagining “MAG 2.0”
Design-thinking consultant
Executive departure
Your Interim Executive role
Speaker: Gayle Williams, Board Member & Former Interim Executive
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18. Speaker: Gayle Williams, Board Member & Former Interim Executive
Expectations of external search
Internal shared leadership proposal
Fishbowl of board and staff
Your role in building alignment
Speaker: Gayle Williams, Board Member & Former Interim Executive
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19. Speaker: Gayle Williams, Board Member & Former Interim Executive
Setting up experiments and benchmarks for new Co-Directors
Leadership structure reflecting MAG’s mission impact
Lessons learned around Co- Directorship
Speaker: Gayle Williams, Board Member & Former Interim Executive
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20. Summary of Transition Impacts
Successful repositioning of the organization and its programming.
Significant staff growth and increase in financial sustainability.
Successfully modeling Co-Directorship for the broader sector.
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21. Part Four: Response Panel
Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint – Moderator
Rachel Gibson, Senior Consultant, Raffa; Deb Linnell, Senior Program Officer, VCB Foundation; Marissa Tirona, Program Officer, BUILD, Ford Foundation; and Linda Wood, Senior Director
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22. Speaker: Rachael Gibson Senior Consultant
Consultant’s role in discerning and connecting leadership and organizational transitions
Challenge for boards and staff to go deeper on leadership ethos so there is real change in practices and behaviors
Unique role of consultants in working with founder and long-tenured executive transitions
Speaker: Rachael Gibson Senior Consultant
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23. Locating leadership transition in a larger sustainability framework
Data on what new ED’s inherit from the Leadership New England study
Funder investment in the long arc of sustainability
Speaker: Deb Linnell Senior Program Officer, van Beuren Charitable Foundation
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24. Speaker: Linda Wood Senior Director, Haas Leadership Initiatives
Transition implications of the new research from Building Movement Project, Race to Lead
Baking race equity into organizational strategy
Speaker: Linda Wood Senior Director, Haas Leadership Initiatives
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25. Speaker: Marissa Tirona Program Officer, BUILD at the Ford Foundation
Leadership Belief: Exploring and Navigating Power, Privilege, and Oppression
Leadership Practice: Complexity Theory and Emergent Thinking
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26. Part Five: Q & A and Resources
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Part Five: Q & A and Resources
Ruth McCambridge, The Nonprofit Quarterly – Moderator
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27. Read further and engage online
Our two previous Nonprofit Quarterly webinars on this topic: Nonprofit Leadership Transitions and Organizational Sustainability Reframing Nonprofit Leadership Succession: The Ultimate Strategic Hedge Against a “Bad CEO Hire”
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28. Read further and engage online
The Evolution of Executive Transition and Allied Practices: A Call for Service Integration by Tom Adams, Director at Raffa, P.C. report.pdf Will We Get There Hire by Hire? Reflections on Executive Leadership and Transition Data over 15 years by Jeanne Bell, Paola Cubías, Byron Johnson 5 Insights From Directors Sharing Power by Jeanne Bell, Paola Cubías, Byron Johnson
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29. Join the conversation; share what you’ve learned
Thank you!
Join the conversation; share what you’ve learned
using our hashtag
#smarttransition
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