Nonprofit boards and CEOs almost universally agree: Succession planning and executive transitions are critical to get right—especially when a founder or long-tenured leader is stepping down.

Yet many organizations still treat succession as a reactive, one-time exercise. Bridgespan’s research suggests a different approach: the most effective organizations view succession planning as a proactive, ongoing investment in leadership development, building a strong pipeline of leaders at all levels so they are ready when transitions inevitably occur.

IFF, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving the Midwest, offers a compelling example. As the organization prepared for the transition of a long-tenured CEO, it invested in developing internal leadership and aligning succession planning with its broader strategy. While the process was not without complexity, that preparation enabled a successful transition to an internal successor and helped maintain organizational stability.

In this webinar, we’ll explore what effective succession planning looks like in practice—drawing on Bridgespan’s guidance and IFF’s real-world experience—and how to move from ad hoc planning to a strategy-aligned approach to building leadership capacity.

Participants will:

• Learn the key components of an effective succession plan and a practical process for developing one
• Understand how to align succession planning with your organization’s future leadership needs and strategy
• Explore how to identify and develop internal talent while addressing gaps with external hiring
• See a competency-based framework for building a sustainable leadership pipeline
• Hear candid succession planning insights from IFF’s leadership