Leadership and culture · A North Star Partners company

We develop the leaders already in the building.

The Jimerson Leadership Lab builds the bench of leaders inside nonprofits, schools, public agencies, and faith-based organizations, so the next senior seat can be filled from within. One framework, held across coaching, training, and the work a leadership team does together.

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See how BENCH works →

Jamal “Dr. Jay” Jimerson, Ed.D.

Principal

The problem

Organizations cannot fill senior roles from inside.

1 in 3

Fewer than one-third of nonprofit boards hold a written succession plan, so the transition usually arrives as an emergency.1

54%

Fifty-four percent of nonprofit chief executives intend to leave their position within five years.2

1.5 to 2×

Replacing a senior leader runs one and a half to two times that leader’s salary, the standard estimate human resources professionals use. Buying an executive costs more than building one.3

1 BoardSource, Leading with Intent (2021), leadingwithintent.org. 2 BoardSource, Leading with Intent (2021), leadingwithintent.org. 3 A standard human resources estimate drawn from general workforce research. Bidwell, Administrative Science Quarterly (2011).

The bench was never built. The people who would fill it are already on staff, three levels down. What they have been missing is investment, sponsorship, and access, and that is a condition an organization can change.

The frame

The BENCH Leadership Model™

Five moves carry the work, and a leader can repeat them after hearing them once.

B

Begin with values.

Name what you stand on before you build anything. The organization states the values it intends to keep, and each leader names their own.

E

Evaluate your people.

Read how each person already leads and how much leverage they hold. The Jimerson Leadership Profile returns one archetype, one level, and one target.

N

Name your opportunities.

Turn the read into a path. Four levels give the map, each person gets a named next step, and the organization sees which seats have a bench behind them.

C

Coach them up.

Work the plan with a coach. Growth happens inside the real job, with coaching and stretch assignments carrying most of it.

H

Hold the course.

Build the capacity to stay with the plan and the values when conditions change, when priorities shift, and when budgets tighten.

Read the full model →

The sector says the leaders are not there. They are on the bench, and they are ready when someone builds them.

Who we work with

01

Nonprofit organizations

Building depth below the executive seat.

02

School systems and independent schools

Developing the leaders already teaching.

03

Public agencies

Preparing for retirements they can see coming.

04

Membership networks and foundations

Buying development on behalf of many.

What we deliver

01 Coaching One leader, six sessions, and a development plan the leader will work. 02 Workshops and training Shared language for an intact team, in a single session or a series. 03 Board development and strategic planning Board education, board evaluation, and a plan the board owns. 04 Courses A sequenced series delivered for institutions that teach, giving your learners a leadership credential and a development plan they carry into the job. 05 Evaluation An outside read of whether a program produced what it promised.

The full model, applied over a year with a selected cohort, is the Jimerson Fellowship.

Start with a conversation.

The first conversation is forty-five minutes and costs nothing. We talk through what your organization is carrying, who is on your bench, and whether this work fits. If it does, the next step is a written scope.

Book a first conversation