I've been around the block a couple of times, but the past two years with LeaderSpring have been some of my most rewarding professionally.  LeaderSpring is an oasis of learning that evolves into communities of practice.  Each cohort becomes a mini village that nurtures and develops authentic leadership.  In a world challenged by multiple social justice issues, LeaderSpring also provides us with a set of best practices that enhance our management abilities and agency missions.  LeaderSpring functions as my "flash drive" for quality management practices.  The impact of this program is reflected throughout my organization.

Lorna Jones, Executive Director
Community Vocational Enterprises

The core of LeaderSpring's two-year, on-the-job Fellowship is a leadership development program for executives of community-based organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Our theory of change is if the leadership of a nonprofit is strengthened, the agency’s capacity is strengthened, enabling it to deliver improved and expanded services. 

LeaderSpring supports the creation of a comprehensive learning environment through distinct yet integrated approaches. The program consists of monthly day-long gatherings, customized professional coaching, individualized study trips, overnight retreats, and peer coaching.  Each month, Fellows meet to engage with a curriculum of specific, relevant, and progressive leadership and management topics.

LeaderSpring awards 14 to 15 Fellowships to nonprofit leaders annually, providing the Fellowship to 28 to 30 nonprofit leaders at any given time. Cohorts are selected alternately from the East Bay and San Francisco.
Based on over a decade of experience, the Fellowship has five key program characteristics:

• Contextual: LeaderSpring embraces an “action learning,” or contextual focus, providing customized opportunities for our Fellows to apply acquired knowledge and skills to real-time compelling challenges specific to their agencies. 
  
  
• Continuous: No other leadership program offers a two-year comprehensive period of goal-setting, training, mentoring, and networking to help ensure impact on organizational performance.
  
  
• Collective: The Fellowship is designed to nurture collective leadership by strengthening the capacity of cross-organizational networks. 
  
  
• Diverse: The rich diversity of our program participants (including mission, leadership tenure, size of agency, and ethnicity) make it possible to deeply mine the multiple talents, knowledge, and wisdom for the benefit of all participating leaders.
  
  
• Adaptive: Our program delivery approach enables us to adjust our program curriculum to reflect the interests of each cohort.

Click here to download LeaderSpring’s fact sheet.

Click here to download a case study of LeaderSpring written by the Whitman Institute.