Developing Second Line of Leadership

Transform how your organization develops its emerging leaders

It is critical to invest in your organisation’s leaders, yet Bridgespan’s research has found that nonprofits typically struggle to develop a strong leadership pipeline.

Through the Developing Second Line of Leadership module, you can transform how your organisation develops its emerging leaders. In this program, Bridgespan will support your leadership team in creating a customized approach to talent development that will help grow your organisation’s next generation of leaders.

This program is for organisations located in Africa. If you are based in India, South Asia, or South-East Asia, please see our BNDP Asia program. If you are in any other geography, please explore our Leadership Accelerator program.


Program Benefits for Nonprofits and Social Enterprises

Building a steady pipeline of eager, effective leaders can lead to:

  • Greater retention of high performers
  • A stronger, more inclusive, and more intentional culture
  • A team that is better prepared to thrive in dynamic and uncertain conditions
  • Greater stability and resilience within the organisation

At the end of the three-month period, leadership teams are expected to:

  • Define what “great leadership” looks like for current and future leaders by crafting a set of equitable leadership competencies
  • Co-create professional development plans with your staff that you can use immediately
  • Create an action plan to implement talent development across the organisation

Who Should Participate?

The Developing Second Line of Leadership program is meant for leadership teams of nonprofits and social enterprises. This program may be the right for your organisation if:

  • Your organisation is growing, or you have completed a strategic plan and want the right talent to bring it to life
  • You want to ensure you’re centering equity in your talent development practices
  • You need to perform succession planning for key senior leaders

Please refer to the Developing Second Line of Leadership curriculum for further details on the module.

Clients with Whom We Have Worked

Investing in Future Leaders BNDP Client Logos

What Our Alumni Have to Say About the Developing Second Line of Leadership Module [Previously called Investing in Future Leaders]

“This programme made us think in a different way and also pushed us to analyse the existing competencies through a different lens.”
–Dr. Indrani Bhattacharya, CEO, Child In Need Institute
 
“The program has kicked us off in our leadership development journey and given valuable exposure to our next rung of leaders on what this could entail.”
–Azeez Gupta, Co-Founder, Rocket Learning  

What Else You Should Know

  • Our next Developing Second Line of Leadership cohort will start in 2025, while the next Designing Strategy cohort will start in December 2024.
  • Applications for all cohorts are open on a rolling basis. Cohorts are typically finalized three weeks prior to the program start date.
  • Contact us at [email protected] to learn more. 

How to Apply

To ensure the program is right for you, fill out this form to set up a 30-minute consultation with us. During the consultation, we’ll learn more about your organisation and leadership team, and we’ll share more about the program. If we jointly determine that the program is a good fit, we’ll share details for how to officially enroll. We look forward to meeting you!

Still have questions? Read our list of Frequently Asked Questions.