FoodLab Detroit
Detroit, MI
Challenge
The departure of a founder can be a challenging process for small organizations, but these transitions also hold the potential for growth. Foodlab Detroit is a small nonprofit focused on building a more equitable, nourishing, and sustainable food system. When its founder and longtime leader left, the remaining staff and board needed to come together around a common vision and new ways of working that would allow them to support the needs of their growing business network. Their organizational values have always been centered on equity and entrepreneurship, so any new approaches would have to be in line with those values. Both staff and board sought training to help them transition the organizational structure from a founder-centered style to one where the board takes a more active role and leadership potentially is shared more broadly amongst staff.
Approach
Community Allies partnered with Prospera Partners and Three Stones Consulting to review Foodlab’s organizational and programmatic documents. Before making any recommendations or beginning to design a process, we immersed ourselves in the existing structures by conducting one-on-one interviews with staff and key board members to harvest the most pressing issues and any unaired concerns. We then designed and conducted a two-day retreat starting with a full day visioning session with the staff on day 1 and did similar work with staff and board members on day 2.
At the retreat, staff was able to easily assess current programs, and they collaborated on a vision of where they felt the organization needed to be headed to support its mission. It was more challenging for them to self-identify the strengths and weaknesses in their current organizational structure. Community Allies designed a “constellation” activity, where staff physically modeled their way of working. The exercise revealed gaps in capacity and effectiveness as well as mismatches in job descriptions and job activities. We presented alternative leadership models, and staff worked to make a match between organizational goals and ideal governance. The following day, we engaged the board in visioning and supported the staff in reporting on their suggested leadership model.
Results
The consulting team provided a written report of the findings as well as recommendations to continue to clarify roles and act on their vision. By thoughtfully examining their structure and boldly considering alternative models, Foodlab Detroit was able to identify a new approach to leadership. With a unified vision, they were well-positioned to enter their “post-founder” stage. They have continued to build equity and resilience in Detroit’s local food system, and they have set standards for this sort of work in cities across the country.
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