Realigning for Impact: How Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound Strengthened Its Foundation

---

Executive Summary

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound, an organization dedicated to creating life-changing mentorship relationships for young people, recognized that to best serve their community, they needed to strengthen their internal foundation. Facing challenges in team communication, organizational culture, and board governance, BBBS engaged LRDG to facilitate a comprehensive organizational development process that would enhance team effectiveness and prepare for critical leadership transition.

The Challenge

Like many mission-driven organizations, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound was deeply committed to its external impact—creating meaningful connections between mentors and young people across the region. However, leadership recognized that internal challenges were creating barriers to achieving their full potential.

The organization faced several interconnected organizational development needs:

Communication and Culture: Staff members needed stronger channels for communication and collaboration. Without intentional practices to foster connection and dialogue, silos were forming and the organizational culture wasn't reflecting the collaborative spirit the organization wanted to embody.

Team Effectiveness: While individual staff members were talented and committed, the team wasn't operating at its highest collective potential. There were opportunities to enhance how teams worked together, made decisions, and supported one another in their shared mission.

Internal Engagement: Staff engagement and morale needed attention. Creating an environment where team members felt heard, valued, and connected to both the mission and each other was essential for retention and performance.

Leadership Development: The organization needed to build leadership capacity across all levels, not just at the executive tier. This became even more critical as the organization prepared for a significant transition.

CEO Transition Planning: BBBS was preparing to onboard a new CEO—a pivotal moment that could either catalyze positive change or create additional instability if not managed thoughtfully.

Board Governance: The board needed to refocus its efforts on governance and strategic direction rather than getting pulled into operational details, ensuring they were positioned to support the incoming CEO effectively.

These challenges weren't signs of organizational failure but rather normal growing pains for a dynamic nonprofit navigating change. The question was how to address them comprehensively and sustainably.

The Solution

LRDG took a diagnostic and participatory approach, ensuring that solutions were informed by the lived experiences of staff, leadership, and board members throughout the organization.

Comprehensive Organizational Assessment

LRDG began with extensive listening. Through surveys and one-on-one meetings with staff and leadership, they gathered candid insights about what was working, what wasn't, and what people needed to thrive. This assessment phase ensured that interventions would be tailored to BBBS's specific context rather than based on generic organizational development formulas.

Strategic Team Building

Based on assessment findings, LRDG developed and facilitated team-building opportunities designed to strengthen relationships, improve communication patterns, and build trust across the organization. These weren't superficial bonding exercises but substantive sessions that addressed real team dynamics and created space for authentic connection.

CEO Transition Planning

Recognizing that leadership transitions are make-or-break moments for organizations, LRDG worked closely with BBBS to plan for the onboarding of their new CEO. This included preparing the organization to welcome new leadership, clarifying expectations and communication structures, and ensuring systems were in place to support a smooth transition.

Board Governance Workshop

LRDG led a focused workshop with the board aimed at clarifying roles, responsibilities, and boundaries. The goal was to help board members step back from day-to-day operations and refocus their energy on governance and strategic direction—creating the space the incoming CEO would need to lead effectively while ensuring appropriate board oversight and support.

Leadership Development Integration

Throughout all interventions, LRDG wove in leadership development opportunities, helping staff at all levels build skills in communication, collaboration, and adaptive leadership.

The Impact

Through this comprehensive organizational development process, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound created a stronger foundation for its mission-critical work. The organization now has:

• Enhanced communication patterns that foster transparency, collaboration, and trust across teams

• Stronger organizational culture where staff feel more connected to each other and the mission

• Improved team effectiveness with clearer processes for collaboration and decision-making

• Increased internal engagement as staff feel more heard and valued

• Leadership capacity distributed throughout the organization, not concentrated at the top

• Clear CEO transition framework that positioned the organization to welcome and support new executive leadership

• Refocused board operating at the appropriate governance level and providing strategic direction

  
  

Key Lessons

The BBBS Puget Sound experience illustrates several important principles for nonprofit organizational development:

Start with listening. The most effective interventions are those grounded in genuine understanding of an organization's unique context and challenges. LRDG's assessment phase ensured that solutions addressed real needs rather than perceived ones.

Timing matters. Addressing internal challenges before and during major transitions—like CEO changes—can transform those transitions from potential crises into opportunities for positive change.

Board clarity is essential. When boards are clear about their governance role and resist the pull toward operations, they create space for executive leadership to lead while providing appropriate oversight and strategic guidance.

Culture is infrastructure. Investing in communication, team dynamics, and organizational culture isn't "soft" work—it's foundational infrastructure that determines whether an organization can execute its mission effectively.

Looking Forward

By investing in this organizational development work, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound demonstrated that strengthening internal capacity is not a distraction from mission but an essential enabler of mission. The organization positioned itself not just to weather a leadership transition but to emerge from it stronger and more aligned.

For nonprofits facing similar challenges—whether navigating transitions, addressing team dynamics, or seeking to enhance organizational effectiveness—the BBBS experience offers a valuable model: invest in understanding your organization deeply, address challenges comprehensively rather than in isolation, and recognize that the strength of your internal foundation directly impacts your external impact.