Learnings from the SustainED Cohort Launch: Creating a Community to Build Power

SustainED is La Piana’s 18-month initiative with the Ford Foundation supporting 15 Executive Directors who hold identities that have historically been underrepresented in leadership, and who have taken the helm of their organization in the last 3 years. Our aim is to sustain leaders who are facing systemic barriers to success through an ecosystem approach (NOT a skills deficit-based approach).

Taking a Collective Breath

As La Piana Consulting kicked off our SustainED Program on January 28, 2025, our cohort of executive leaders arrived from across the country in collective shock — understandably reeling and in reaction mode to the firehose of Executive Orders directly threatening their organizations, communities, and the fabric of our society. Some were dealing with urgent practical matters, like calling in federal grants, activating contingencies, and providing care and support to staff and stakeholders. Others felt emotionally drained because the anti-DEI, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQIA+ orders represented direct and immediate attacks on them personally. But as we gathered, we agreed to take a collective deep breath, embrace the value of being in community, and commit to focusing on the long-view of leading during this turbulent time — even as it felt counterintuitive to abandon the urgency of the day-to-day.

“Even though things are hard now I see I still want to be in the work because I see you all also struggling and moving ahead. Being here has been really important for me.”

Mutual Care Beats Technical Support

Moving through the 3-day convening, this commitment to being present and focusing on the marathon ahead paradoxically allowed for a deep focus in the eye of the storm. The group bonded in deep empathy and shared experience of leading progressive organizations during this unique moment in history. Even while the leaders were facing some disparate challenges, they generously set aside their individual crises in order to listen to their peers and invested themselves in understanding and supporting each other.

While we, as facilitators, planned and offered some specific activities meant to build leadership capacity — including frameworks for prioritization, strengthening board chair/executive leader relationships, and root cause analysis — we had a hunch, confirmed in post-event feedback, that much more than technical or knowledge-based support, what leaders most need right now is community. In fact, some of the activities the group most valued were the inspirational speakers and artistic activations (shout out to Ford Foundation VP of US Programs Sarita Gupta who encouraged everyone to know and own our own power and not to give it away, and to performing artist Caridad de la Luz who unleashed the power of everyone’s inner poets!). These activities were a visceral reminder that feeding the spirit and soul is just as critical as feeding the body and mind.

“I’ve been to SOOO many trainings and I have learned so much but there is a very good vibe with this group that I’ve never felt before. We’re being attacked from all sides and you’re still giving me energy, feeding me, and reaffirming that these vibes do matter – this is all we got.”

Creating Solidarity and Building Power

In large and small group discussions we witnessed how the deep empathetic mutual support grew organically to practical information and knowledge sharing. The group shared breaking news, leaned on each other for thought partnership, and coached each other through specific situations. Then, as if that wasn’t magical enough, discussions began to turn toward collective action, how they might collaborate, and how the field needs to realign to meet this moment.

This shared space fostered a community that nourished individual leaders in helping them feel supported and less alone, but the experience will ripple out to the organizations they lead as they return energized and inspired. And ultimately, we see the potential for shared spaces like this to impact the field and society as unlikely connections are made across sectors and issue areas in building a supportive network. It is our hope that the intense “summer camp” vibes will sustain these relationships and help everyone continue to grow through the rest of the program and into the future.

“I’ve had opportunities to be in spaces with other leaders, but I feel very strongly…about my experience here, that these are relationships that I will keep for a long time, I really feel that. Relationships will come out of this that will develop and will give me that community I crave.”

Takeaways for the Field: Crisis Can Bring Us Together and Mobilize Change

While the current situation differs in many ways, the early days and weeks of the pandemic were similarly intense and fraught with uncertainty, unpredictability, and existential fear. News and information changed by the hour and organizational leaders had to respond rapidly. It’s helpful to reflect on some lessons we learned during that time and how we see it again playing out in today’s volatility:

• We are more resilient than we might imagine. Remember March 2020, when organizational leaders, by necessity, had to instantly and dramatically shift how they delivered on their missions? If you are now facing deep existential funding cuts or attacks, focus on how you can somehow preserve your most important offerings and core values. Exactly what you do may need to change, but if you can center impact over specific activities, you might discover a new opportunity.
• We are more powerful together. During the pandemic, we saw pop-up communities form in order to solve specific shared challenges. Standing field-wide calls started out with shared commiseration and just figuring out how and when to close operations. But increased communication often led to sharing information and collaboration (“how did you navigate the SBA portal?”), and we also saw these groups grow into coalitions that then pursued important advocacy initiatives together in unlikely alliances. Now too may be a time to come together in shared purpose and coordinated strategy.
• Leadership is lonely but it doesn’t have to be. We’re not pushing for the revival of Zoom happy hours, but we do know that executive leaders are bearing the burden of a lot of emotional labor right now, just as we saw during the pandemic. Leaders are stepping up to secure critical services in another unprecedented time. You simultaneously need to care for your organizations, your staff and stakeholders, and yourselves – and these needs are often in tension with each other. The more you can intentionally set aside time and seek community with people who can support you, the more energy you will have to continue the work for the long run. As you look to build your own community of support, look to those who share enough similarities (e.g. fellow top level leaders who share your values), but who can also bring a variety of perspectives (e.g. different fields, tenure, geographies). This will allow you to share relevant knowledge and information. It will also provide an opportunity to zoom out and understand how to prioritize larger strategy decisions, seeing opportunities for collective action.

You got this! And stay tuned for more learnings from our wonderful cohort.