Managing a nonprofit leadership transition, especially one involving the replacement of a long-standing founder, offers challenges even in the best of times. But when times are turbulent and marked by great uncertainty and disruption, as they have been for much of 2020, the transition faces greater obstacles. The nonprofit sector is likely to see many such leadership transitions as baby boomers retire, accelerated in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, as well as a recognition for the need of greater racial diversity in nonprofit leadership.

One such organization is the Bay Area-based Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY). Founded in 2000 by Christa Gannon, FLY provides legal education, leadership training, and mentoring programs to motivate and equip young people to change the course of their lives, and works to dismantle the pipeline to prison for all youth. In June of 2020, Gannon, FLY’s president and CEO, was succeeded by Ali Knight, the organization’s former chief operating officer.

Read the full article about leadership transitions by Dave Moore at The Bridgespan Group.