Retaining and Sustaining Leaders in the Social Sector
By: Erica Hamilton, CEO & Founder, The Memo I Never Got, and Michelle Kedem, Founding Partner, On-Ramps
Join us for an in-depth session on this topic on February 6: Moving From Exhaustion to Sustainability: Promoting Cultures of Wellbeing for Social Impact Leaders
In speaking with senior leaders over the past few years, we have seen a concerning trend growing only worse in the social impact sector; senior leaders are contemplating or exiting their roles due to the demands, structure, and pace of their jobs.
Interested in unpacking how widespread and urgent this issue is, for four weeks during the spring of 2024, hundreds of senior leaders at mission-driven organizations of various sizes, sub-sectors, and structures were surveyed to learn what challenges they’ve faced, what types of support have helped sustain them, and what they need to thrive. The leaders who responded shared their feelings, insights, experiences, and ideas for solutions with us, offering confirmation of ongoing concerns in the field around talent development and retention. In addition, these leaders also offered thoughtful, and at times hopeful, responses that could help in creating a blueprint for improving how the social impact field invests, caretakes, and develops senior leaders.
We drew on our collective expertise in organizational consulting, executive search, and DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging) —as well as our tenure serving as C-Suite leaders within and outside the social impact and philanthropy sectors—to analyze the survey results and lift up ideas from the field that offer promising solutions to this issue. Our analysis of this survey makes two findings extremely clear.
First, our analysis confirms that senior leaders at mission-driven organizations are burning out at shocking rates and leaving roles because they don’t feel supported. In fact, 62% of respondents to our survey have considered leaving their organization in the past three years. An intersectional lens greatly magnified the impacts. Women were more likely than men to report harmful impacts to their health, and BIPOC women were the most likely to mention entirely negative impacts on their physical and mental health. 47% of BIPOC women said their role had an exclusively negative impact on their physical health, 31% said the same about their mental health, whereas responses for all others were 31% and 25%, respectively.
And the second significant finding of our research was that senior leaders have an abundance of ideas about the solutions, resources, and support they need to address the challenges and strain of their roles. These leaders are ready to serve as thought leaders and partners to Boards and the field of philanthropy to launch initiatives that could not only stem the tide of exits but actually offer promising new approaches that could attract more high-performing leaders to senior social impact roles. And we believe philanthropy is in the best position to play a critical role in addressing this issue and driving positive change in two key ways:
Funding Research
The intensity of negative impacts felt by BIPOC women sparks deeper curiosity about the nuances of experiences between each racial identity included in the broader group. The variations across experiences will likely point to differing solutions. Moreover, further study is warranted across the board, as our report reflects only the tip of the iceberg. In order to minimize the length of the survey, we focused on exploring a broad list of topics rather than focusing intensively on one or a small number of topics. Future research should focus on probing a smaller list of topics more deeply to produce a greater understanding of the experiences and needs of specific identity groups.
Catalyzing Solutions
Although senior leaders feel isolated while addressing burnout, they also have ideas for potential solutions, which, if implemented effectively, could effectively address their challenges. Given the convening power of the foundations, they are uniquely positioned to engage senior leaders and other stakeholders in deeper discussions to design, fund, and pilot responsive solutions. By shining light on this burnout and engaging leaders in developing and implementing practical solutions, philanthropy can enable positive change. In fact, we invite you to join us at an in-depth session on this topic on February 6: Moving From Exhaustion to Sustainability: Promoting Cultures of Wellbeing for Social Impact Leaders, interactive in-person meeting that will include breakout discussions to support peer learning exchanges about strategies and lessons learned as folks have attempted to address burnout at their organizations. This is a critical priority for the sector, particularly for women and leaders of color who are often under resourced.