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Leadership
Leadership Transition During a Pandemic
Even in uncertain times and with leadership in flux, nonprofits can recalibrate and make progress.
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Leadership
When Moving a Nonprofit Forward Means Altering the Founder’s Course
Leaders who succeed founders sometimes need to work against expectations of them and chart a fundamentally new path toward change, even while keeping the original vision in mind.
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Leadership
A Funder’s Learnings on Nonprofit Founder Transitions
The departure of a nonprofit founder can be a moment of opportunity, but only when funders, the board, and the outgoing leader steward it well.
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Leadership
Navigating Race and New Leadership in a Time of Upheaval
Leaders of color who succeed white founders face a unique set of challenges and bring new benefits, particularly in a time of widespread cultural and social crises. Part of an in-depth series on founder succession.
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Leadership
When Co-Founder Transitions Collide
The work of cofounders is oftentimes so entwined that they are ready to leave the organization at the same—but who gets to go first?
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Leadership
Leadership Transition When a Founder’s Star Is on the Rise
Three unique challenges facing successors who take over from ambitious founder-predecessors, and how to navigate them during the already difficult period of transition.
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Leadership
Getting Past the Glorification of the Founder
A seamless CEO handoff requires that founders of social impact organizations balance their public image with their organization’s brand, while providing space for their teams to shine early on.
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Leadership
The Five Stages of Founder Transitions
It is well known that the start-up process is a psychological journey; the same is true of the leaving process.
Finding the Way Forward When Founders Leave
As the field of social entrepreneurship has developed over the past 20 years, many founders of social enterprises and nonprofits have gained almost hero-like standing. They have labored tirelessly to build organizations from scratch, inspired others to support their bold visions for achieving social good, and attracted prestigious fellowships and awards along the way. But despite being powerful forces for change and although their organizations may be poised to thrive for decades to come, founders don’t stick around forever—and nor should they. Organizations change, and so do the skill sets they need to advance. Leaders burn out. And sustainable organizations simply can’t depend on a single individual to drive them forward.
Researchers and practitioners have explored the role founders can play after they step down and general strategies for leadership transition, but precious little has been written from the perspective of founders themselves and the leaders who succeed them. This essay series, produced in partnership with Generation Citizen’s Scott Warren, aims to change that by providing a real-world look at the founder succession process through the eyes of people who have lived it. Contributors include diverse individuals with unique perspectives and experiences, and their stories will highlight both failures and successes, as well as offer practical insights for other leaders.
Particularly in light of the massive health, equity, economic, and political challenges afoot, social enterprises and nonprofits need to thoughtfully consider and execute founder successions. The fact that COVID-19 and its aftermath has disproportionately impacted the world’s most vulnerable populations makes it all the more important that organizations withstand the transition of a founder, especially when it leads to more diverse and representative leadership. Doing it well also contributes to the long-term success of the social sector more broadly.
The essays in this series reflect real, vulnerable, inspiring, and powerful experiences, and we hope they are useful to organizations facing leadership transitions.