Shared Leadership
After years in a more traditional structure, Sprout made the shift to operate with shared leadership in January 2024. We have a leadership team of three: a Producers & Sustainability Director, Community Food Director, and Operations & Administration Director. The director team will co-lead on the strategic vision for the organization, in collaboration with the staff.
Why Shared Leadership?
Shared success is well established and embodied in the broader movement of collectives, cooperatives, and organized labor within agriculture. Farmers and growers utilize shared leadership for equitable sharing of resources and for building collective power to make change. It is only natural that Sprout, as a regional producer support organization, mirrors this collaborative structure. As we seek to expand our work in reparations and land equity, it is imperative that our own team is working in a way that mirrors these values.
By distributing leadership in a more equitable fashion as Sprout grows, we can create a more collaborative workplace and enable a higher level of creativity and innovation.
Key Tenants of Shared Leadership
We believe that shared leadership is the idea that leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but is shared among a group of people. Upon reflecting on how this structure lives into Sprout values (such as relationships, racial equity, power-shifting, and intentionality), we identified the following key tenants of shared leadership, for which directors will be accountable:
Collaboration: Shared leadership is often seen as a way to improve organizational collaboration. When everyone is involved in decision-making, it can lead to better communication, more creative solutions, and a stronger sense of ownership over the organization's work.
Compassion: This means being understanding, supportive, and encouraging of others. It also means being willing to listen to different perspectives and to learn from others.
Learning and growth: Shared leadership is an opportunity for everyone to learn and grow. It can help people to develop their leadership skills, to become more comfortable with ambiguity, and to build trust with their colleagues.
Sustainability: Shared leadership requires a sustainable, consistent structure. This means having clear roles and responsibilities, regular communication, and a commitment to collaboration.
Public Resources on Shared Leadership
Sprout has been working towards this structural shift for years. In a thoughtful process led by the staff and board, with funding from the Greater New Orleans Foundation and the assistance of Trepwise, we have designed a sustainable, nimble structure that will engage all team members in collaborative decision-making for the organization.
We have documented our journey to shared leadership, and created public resources to assist other community organizations interested in making this shift. The shared leadership toolkit includes notes on our process and tools for implementation of a new leadership structure.
Director Responsibilities
Mina Seck, Community Food Director, leads on community food systems, including: the community garden; Truck Farm Table; farmer resources like plants, seeds, and tools; urban agriculture programming; and local partnerships and policy work.
Margee Green, Producers & Sustainability Director, leads on support for Louisiana producers, including: technical assistance; climate; markets support across the state; land access and equity; statewide partnerships; and state and federal policy.
Amelia Bird, Administration & Operations Director, leads Sprout operations, including: finance; development and fundraising; human resources; fiscal sponsorships; project management; and monitoring and evaluation.
