Innovative Actions to Support Healthy Leadership Transitions

As the number of organizations in funder portfolios who are undergoing a leadership transition grows, many common practices of funders, including a “Wait and see” approach, are failing organizations just when they need extra support. Given the deeply destabilizing impact of transitions and the steep increase in volume of transitions, it is more important than ever that funders embrace transitions as a normal yet fragile part of the organizational life cycle. Further, funders can develop better strategies for supporting leadership transitions involving BIPOC leaders.

Join this values-driven and action-oriented session with Leading Forward to learn from social sector professionals who are leaning into trust - and leaning into the change - with new strategies to support leaders who are leaving, leaders who are entering, and the board and staff who manage the change from old to new.

Session take-aways:

• A framework and set of principles to rely on when building out grantmaking programs and cohorts related to leadership transitions for your grantees.
• Deeper understanding of the unique challenges of BIPOC leadership transitions as well as the current context (large number of transitions, shorter tenures for leaders, etc.).
• Practical considerations for how to approach conversations about leadership transitions with your grantee partners.
• Strategies and tactics for supporting organizations before, during, and after leadership transitions, particularly transitions involving BIPOC leadership.

Our speakers will be Amalia Brindis Delgado, Chief Strategy Officer for the Panta Rhea Foundation; Ai Lun Ku, Principal of AiLun Ku Consulting, LLC; Sabrina Thornton, Program Officer, Creativity and Innovation for the T. Rowe Price Foundation; and Lisa Kane, President of Firefly Advisors.

This program is for members of the following philanthropy-serving organizations: Maryland Philanthropy Network, Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, Florida Philanthropic Network, Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, Wisconsin Philanthropy Network, and North Carolina Grantmakers.

Accessibility

Live captions will be provided during this session. For any other access needs, please contact Elisabeth Hyleck at ehyleck@marylandphilanthropy.org.

Speaker Bios - Click here to download

Amalia Brindis Delgado
Chief Strategy Officer, Panta Rhea Foundation
Amalia has over 20 years of experience in global nonprofit organizational development, organizing, and legal advocacy. As Panta Rhea’s Chief Strategy Officer, Amalia facilitates strategic design and partner resources to deepen the foundation’s commitments to grassroots liberation, food sovereignty, and climate justice across the Americas and the Caribbean. Previously, Amalia spearheaded Hispanics in Philanthropy’s new initiatives and oversaw programs that intersected across migration, power building, and racial, gender, economic, and environmental justice for Latin American and Latine communities. She co-founded Asylum Access, a 20-year old international refugee rights organization in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Born in Venezuela and raised in the US Virgin Islands, Amalia is a California-licensed lawyer living in Virginia with her family.

Lisa Kane
President, Firefly Advisors

Lisa provides nonprofit leaders with strategic support, thought partnership, and facilitation that encourages productive listening and innovative learning. Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, Port Discovery Children’s Museum, Maryland Humanities, the T Rowe Price Foundation, TFA Baltimore, Ready at Five, Ingenuity Project, Johns Hopkins University, Middle Grades Partnership, and Raising A Reader are among her clients, past and present. Lisa serves on the board for Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School and is a frequent pro bono advisor to change-makers. Before launching her own firm, Lisa worked for seventeen years as a program officer at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, where she managed the Foundation’s Baltimore education and early childhood investments. Lisa has a BA from Bowdoin College (where she learned essential skills like Improv and Rugby), and a MPH from Columbia University. Lisa delights in her family and friends in Baltimore.

AiLun Ku
Principal, AiLun Ku Consulting, LLC
AiLun most recently served as President and CEO of The Opportunity Network, a nationally recognized college and career guidance program supporting first-generation college students and young people of color from underrepresented communities. She led the growth of OppNet’s Fellows program to include more than 1,100 Fellows annually. Throughout her tenure, she spearheaded the launch of the organization’s open-access online learning platform, Uninterrupted: Unstoppable Learning, and its national capacity-building program, Career Fluency Partnerships. AiLun is a certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Method Facilitator, was an advisor to the report, Brilliant Transformation: Toward Full Flourishing BIPOC Leadership Transitions, and served as a Council Member for the MIT Media Lab Diversity and Leadership Advisory Council. She is currently a senior advisor with the MING Collective (part of the strategic advisory and executive coaching firm, The Memo I Never Got) and NationSwell.

Sabrina Thornton
Program Officer for Creativity and Innovation, T. Rowe Price Foundation

Sabrina is the Program Officer for Creativity and Innovation at the T. Rowe Price Foundation, where she also runs the Capacity Building program – utilized by over 830 organizations since 2016. Before arriving at the Foundation, Sabrina worked for over a decade as a fundraising and development professional for regional theaters across the US, including Baltimore Center Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and Cornerstone Theater Company. During that decade, she raised over $60 million in foundation and government grants, planned and produced a variety of special events, and spearheaded individual giving campaigns across many platforms. Sabrina was also a theater artist and writer, and has worked as a production manager, director, actor, and producer for various theatrical productions - the most exciting adventure of that part of her life was performing at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Kennedy Center in 2016.