Investing in Future Leaders

Nurture the Talent You Need to Deliver on Your Strategic Vision

Nonprofit leaders recognize the importance of diverse talent to achieving their mission. But exactly how to develop that talent is less clear. Investing in Future Leaders, a Bridgespan Leadership Accelerator program, is designed to address that gap.

Through this program, which combines online learning with guided team meetings, your executive team will put in place job-embedded development plans necessary to ensure your organization has the leaders it needs when it needs them.

The Work You Will Do

In just two hours a week over 16 weeks, you and your executive team will create powerful development planning processes for your organization. During the program, you will:

Agree on the primary skills, knowledge, and capabilities needed for your organization’s success
Assess how well direct reports are demonstrating these skills, knowledge, and capabilities
Identify priority development areas and draft development plans
Prepare to share these concepts and process steps with the rest of your organization

Access online lessons, self-study, and guided team summits through this unique program.

Tangible, Lasting Benefits & Results

By participating in the program, you and your executive team will have an inclusive talent development strategy, and practical tools and processes to support this strategy. Implementation of this strategy leads to:

A talent strategy that incorporates diversity and equity
Improved retention of your top talent and leadership
Increased staff engagement and satisfaction
Executive team cohesiveness and shared vision

Download the Overview and FAQ

Tangible, Lasting Benefits & ResultsImage

Unique Program Features

Practical, tested tools and templates that you can use right away in your organization
Structured, self-paced program with guidance from Bridgespan consultants
Dedicated time for your executive team to devote to critical strategic thinking
An approach that enables you to integrate equity into your talent strategy

Webinar: Monday, January 7th, @ 12pm PT/3pm ET

Learn more during an Informational Webinar: Monday, January 7th, @ 12pm PT/3pm ET.

Who Should Participate

The Investing in Future Leaders program is for nonprofit executive teams that are committed to building a stronger and more inclusive pipeline of leaders within their organizations. This program might be right for you if you and your executive team:

Desire practical ways to develop emerging leaders–and particularly leaders of color
Want opportunities to build collective ownership of organizational talent
Need to create a development planning process, but haven’t known where to start
Want to ensure your talent development strategy reflects your goals and values related to equity

How the Program Works

Executive teams meet over 16 weeks working through five milestones. Each milestone combines online lessons, individual pre-work, guided team summits, and access to Bridgespan support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Investing in Future Leaders Curriculum Overview

During each of the five milestones, teams learn and apply concepts to build towards a customized talent strategy for their organization:

Milestone 1: Discuss and align on strategic talent priorities, future leadership needs, and implications
Milestone 2: Identify and agree upon a list of core job and leadership competencies needed for organizational success
Milestone 3: Identify what competencies your direct reports should prioritize for development, based on how they are currently demonstrating these competencies
Milestone 4: Craft job-embedded development plans for your direct reports, and improve these plans with the support of your team
Milestone 5: Create a plan to share and co-create these development plans with your direct reports, and set goals with the leadership team for how you’ll keep this work alive

What Executives Say

Christa Gannon
Founder & CEO of Fresh Lifelines for Youth,
talks about her team's experience with Investing in Future Leaders.

See More Testimonials

Pricing & Support

The Investing in Future Leaders program includes online facilitation, guidance, and support, and is designed to be largely self-facilitated by your team. In addition, Bridgespan offers guidance to participating teams via weekly office hours.

Price: $5,500 for executive teams of up to eight members.
For organizations outside the United States, or those teams with more than eight members, please contact us at [email protected].

Scholarships: A limited number of scholarships are also available to organizations led by people of color. Learn More>>