For nearly a year now Community Link in Saginaw has been successfully running with two Executive Directors with shared responsibility for their mission. The $3.3 million nonprofit works to alleviate hunger in Northwest Tarrant County.
Lara Gay and Trey Harper were appointed as Executive Directors by the Board of Directors after the retirement of the previous Executive Director, Karen Fuller, who had served the organization for 15 years.
As Fuller headed toward retirement, Harper and Gay, both already working for the organization for several years, approached the idea of a shared leadership model internally. Fuller supported the idea and took it to the Board of Directors.
The trio provided case studies of shared-leadership models at other nonprofits along with a list of the primary responsibilities of the position. They were then able to show that neither of them individually had all of the skills, experience or traits needed but together they did. Over the course of a few months, group and individual conversations took place that led to their appointment in January of 2023.
“We have two people that work well together and have two different perspectives on our organization,” says Gay. “He has gifts that I don’t have and I have gifts that he doesn’t have. For me, I prefer to work collaboratively rather than have one person be the end all be all.”
There is clear delineation of their roles and responsibilities. Gay is responsible for everything internal and Harper everything external. They share the same title and haven’t experienced confusion or difficulties with this structure internally or externally.
“This model isn’t for everybody. If you’re not an organization that can change or adjust easily, it may not be for you. It requires out-of-the-box thinking,” says Harper.
Both admit that this model works because of their prior working relationship, their mutual respect for each other and their commitment to good communication and collaboration.
A bylaws change was required to allow this leadership model and to anticipate scenarios for succession planning and disagreement – including a provision that allows for them to return to singular Executive Director in the event one of them leaves the organization.
Still in its early stages, the duo has tentative plans to share the challenges and success of this model with other organizations in the future.
