LeaderSpring Center

What LeaderSpring Center does

LeaderSpring Center is a nonprofit leadership development organization founded in 1997 and headquartered in Oakland, California, with Sonia BasSheva Mañjon serving as Executive Director. The organization serves social sector leaders, with a particular focus on women of color, Indigenous women, and African American women leaders in the Bay Area and beyond, addressing leadership burnout, isolation, and the under-resourcing of equity-driven work. Its core products are cohort-based LeadStrong Learning Community fellowships (including Women of Color LeadStrong, Emerging Women of Color LeadStrong, African American Women LeadStrong, Native American and Alaska Native Women LeadStrong, STRONG Emerging Leaders of Color, Metta Fund Emerging Leaders, and Executive Fellows), an Impact Consulting practice that delivers Peer Learning Communities and Justice and Liberation webinars to partner organizations, recurring virtual event series (Thursday Talks, Tuesday Talks, and the P.R.I.A. somatic practice series), and an Alumni Network and Leadership Library supporting the 300+ program graduates.

The organization sustains its work through donations and charitable contributions from individuals and institutions, supplemented by consulting fees from organizational partners. It is fiscally sponsored by Tides Center, which provides administrative and legal infrastructure. Its go-to-market is community-led: prospective fellows apply to annual cohorts, consulting is sold directly to mission-aligned organizations, and engagement is maintained through a 2,000+ subscriber newsletter, Instagram, and a calendar of recurring virtual events. LeaderSpring has no proprietary technology platform, no app, and no AI/ML capabilities disclosed; all programming is delivered through human facilitation via Zoom and in-person gatherings held on Huichin, the ancestral land of the Lisjan Ohlone people in Oakland.

Name

LeaderSpring Center

Legal name

LeaderSpring Center

Website

https://leaderspring.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

LeaderSpring Center is an Oakland-based nonprofit, founded in 1997, that runs cohort-based fellowship programs, impact consulting, and virtual event series to strengthen equity-driven social sector leaders, particularly women of color, and sustains its work through donations and a fiscal sponsorship by Tides Center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Leadership Development Services

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Professional Organizations (813920), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Inclusive Leadership & Leading Diverse Teams (EDABAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Executive Leadership & C-Suite Development (EDABAAAA)

Keywords

• Leadership development
• Cohort-based fellowships
• Nonprofit consulting
• Peer learning communities
• Equity-focused training

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: LeaderSpring Center operates as a nonprofit organization that sustains its work through donations and charitable contributions from individuals, institutions, and foundations. The organization explicitly invites investment in leaders through its website donation mechanism.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

LeaderSpring Center delivers cohort-based fellowship programs (LeadStrong Learning Communities) and organizational consulting (Impact Consulting) to support equity-driven social sector leaders. Programs include Women of Color LeadStrong, Emerging Women of Color LeadStrong, African American Women LeadStrong, Native American & Alaska Native Women LeadStrong, STRONG Emerging Leaders of Color, Metta Fund Emerging Leaders, and Executive Fellows, complemented by webinar series (Justice and Liberation), virtual events (Thursday Talks, Tuesday Talks, P.R.I.A.), and an alumni network.

Product overview

LeaderSpring Center offers a portfolio of cohort-based fellowship programs (LeadStrong Learning Communities) and consulting services centered in liberation and love-ethic values. The core offerings include: LeadStrong Learning Communities (Women of Color, Emerging Women of Color, African American Women, and Native American & Alaska Native Women programs), Impact Consulting with Peer Learning Communities and Justice and Liberation webinars, virtual event series (Thursday Talks and Tuesday Talks), P.R.I.A. somatic practice series, an Alumni Network, and a Leadership Library. All offerings are designed to transform leadership practice through peer learning and a racial equity and social justice lens.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LeadStrong Fellowship: Flagship leadership fellowship program supporting women of color, emerging leaders of color, African American women, and Native American and Alaska Native women leaders.
• P.R.I.A.
• Thursday Talks
• Tuesday Talks

Products and services

• LeadStrong Learning Communities

Quantifiable outcome

• 300+ leaders have completed learning community programs
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Tides CentercoreOthersLeaderSpring Center is fiscally sponsored by Tides Center, a nonprofit fiscal sponsor that provides administrative infrastructure, legal status, and operational support for the organization.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Echoing Green: Global fellowship program for emerging social impact leaders — analogous fellowship-based leadership development model with a similar equity and social change orientation.
• Rockwood Leadership Institute: National fellowship-based leadership program for social justice movement leaders — closely aligned cohort model and equity-driven mission with LeaderSpring's LeadStrong fellowships.
• Public Allies: National youth and emerging leader fellowship program focused on diverse leaders in the nonprofit and public sectors — directly comparable cohort-based leadership development for historically excluded populations.
• CompassPoint Nonprofit Services: Bay Area-based nonprofit leadership development organization offering cohorts, consulting, and executive coaching to social sector leaders — overlapping geography and program model with LeaderSpring.
• The Management Center: National nonprofit that provides management and leadership training to social sector executives — directly comparable to LeaderSpring's Impact Consulting and Executive Fellows offerings for nonprofit leaders.
• Building Movement Project: Nonprofit that develops research, tools, and leadership programs for social change organizations — comparable in mission to support nonprofit/social sector leadership infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• Independent Sector: National membership organization supporting nonprofits and foundations with research, advocacy, and leadership resources — broader ecosystem player serving the same social sector leadership community LeaderSpring targets.
• Center for Creative Leadership: Established, large-scale leadership development provider serving executives across sectors — broader in scope but directly competitive in the leadership training space LeaderSpring occupies for social sector executives.
• National Council of Nonprofits: Network of nonprofit associations providing capacity-building and leadership resources — adjacent broad incumbent in the social sector leadership and capacity-building ecosystem.

Others

• Tides Center: Fiscal sponsor and philanthropic intermediary that hosts LeaderSpring and many similar equity-focused projects — not a direct competitor but a key infrastructure partner and ecosystem peer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LeaderSpring
• Instagraminstagram.com/leaderspring

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LeaderSpring Center