The Leading for Impact (LFI) and Leadership Accelerator program provides scholarship-supported access to coaching, leadership development, and peer learning for nonprofit organization executive teams. Through workshops, team-led projects, and executive coaching, LFI equips leaders with the tools to strengthen their organizations, drive sustainability, and expand community impact. Participating organizations share a portion of the program cost, ensuring mutual investment in their growth.
Leading for Impact® is a comprehensive experience for nonprofit executive teams that helps them strengthen their overall leadership skills while also making progress on a specific strategic goal. The program can be particularly beneficial for organizations with new leadership or that are seeking to strengthen their leadership pipeline.
Key Components:
Classroom Workshops: Participants join cohorts of 6-8 nonprofits for a mix of in-person and virtual executive team workshops on strategy, organization, and team effectiveness.
Project: Executive teams also complete a team-led project, in which they apply strategic management concepts to their most critical priorities with extensive Bridgespan coaching. While projects are tailored to each organization, common project topics include: Setting and Leading Strategy, Making Strategic Decisions, and Leading a Strong Organization.
Bridgespan’s Leadership Accelerator is series of programs that help nonprofit leaders make progress on a specific strategic or organizational challenge. They are best for executive teams with a focused strategic need, or those who do not have the time or capacity to participate in a more comprehensive experience.
Each Accelerator program is divided into a series of “milestones.” Each milestone takes ~2-3 weeks to complete and has three key components: individual self-study, team working sessions, and group and individual coaching with a Bridgespan expert. There are four Accelerator programs for participants to choose from: Achieving Strategic Clarity, Investing in Future Leaders, Strengthening the Executive Team and Creating an Adaptive Plan.
Cohorts launch twice a year from 2025-2027.
The Samueli Foundation is providing a scholarship of ~80% of the cost for teams to participate in these programs. Organizations contribute a modest co-pay based on their organizational budget:
For LFI, the co-pay is $8,000 for organizations with <$5M in budget, $13,000 for $5-10M, and $18,0000 for organizations over $10M. (This is an eligible request for the Breakaway Fund. Learn how to apply.)
For Accelerator, teams contribute $2,000 per team regardless of budget size.
Please complete our Interest Form above, and we will follow-up with you and your team to learn more about your interest and organization's goals.