The Essential Leadership Lab provides nonprofit sector executives and senior leaders with an opportunity to meet monthly in virtual cohorts of peers for a full 12 months, developing knowledge and skills, exploring critical issues, and cultivating an unparalleled network of leader-colleagues.
Enrollment opens only three times each year. The next open enrollment period is CURRENTLY OPEN for a June start date.
Join us for the Essential Leadership Lab
- 12 monthly virtual sessions focusing on critical topics facing leaders in the nonprofit sector.
- Participants enroll for 12 months and choose to participate in 9 of the 12 sessions.
- The sessions include a mix of expert insights, participants sharing their own experiences, and elevation of the expertise in the room.
- Enrollment opens 3 times per year for start dates in February, June, or October, when new participants join an orientation and then jump into the ongoing meetings.
- C-suite leaders placed together into an Executive Track of Lab.
Schedule of Lab Topics
Participants choose 9 of the 12 monthly topics during their 12-month registration year:
June 2026 | Looking Back & Looking Forward: A Mid-Year Gut Check
We are already halfway through the year. What will the next six months bring? In this month’s Lab cohorts, we’ll examine key achievements, confront persistent challenges, and identify emerging trends that have reshaped attitudes and approaches across the sector.
July 2026 | The Loyalty Equation: What Employees Actually Want Now
Framework Lens: We — Leading Your Team & Organization
Salary matters, but it’s rarely the whole story. Mission alignment, flexibility, growth, psychological safety, and feeling genuinely valued are driving retention decisions in ways that catch many leaders off guard. In this Lab, senior leaders will dig into what today’s nonprofit workforce actually needs to stay engaged — and how to deliver it without unlimited budgets. Expect candid peer exchange on what’s working, what’s failing, and what one change you could make in the next 30 days to strengthen the loyalty equation on your team.
August 2026 | The Funding Landscape Has Shifted — Now What?
Framework Lens: Community — Leading in the Sector
Federal funding pullbacks, foundation pivots, and corporate giving uncertainty have forced many organizations to rethink their revenue mix almost overnight. This session moves beyond crisis mode to strategic repositioning: Where are the real opportunities in this new landscape? How do you diversify without losing mission focus? And how do you lead your team through the uncertainty without losing momentum? Leaders will share what they’re seeing on the ground and pressure-test their strategies with peers who are navigating the same terrain.
September 2026 | HOT TOPIC
We are reserving this session for a timely topic that Lab members want to explore together.
October 2026 | The Multigenerational Workforce: Leading Across the Divide
Framework Lens: We — Leading Your Team & Organization
For the first time in history, many executives are managing four or even five generations simultaneously, each with different expectations around communication, feedback, work style, and career growth. What feels like respect to one generation reads as micromanagement to another. What feels like autonomy to a senior leader feels like abandonment to a newer team member. In this Lab, leaders will map the generational dynamics on their own teams, share what’s creating friction and what’s generating unexpected strength, and develop practical strategies for turning generational diversity into organizational advantage.
November 2026 | The Trust Deficit: Rebuilding Donor Confidence in a Skeptical Era
Framework Lens: Community — Leading in the Sector
Public trust in institutions, including nonprofits, is … how shall we say this? … not great. How do senior leaders rebuild and sustain donor confidence when transparency expectations have never been higher, misinformation spreads faster than impact stories, and every dollar is scrutinized? In this Lab, leaders will examine their organization’s trust “balance sheet,” share strategies that have moved the needle, and design communication approaches that turn skepticism into deeper commitment.
December 2026 | What We Carry: The Hidden Weight of Leading a Mission-Driven Organization
Framework Lens: Me — Leadership Strength & Sustainability
There is a particular kind of weight that comes with working on behalf of mission-driven organizations: grief when the work falls short, moral injury when values and reality collide, and the relentless pressure of caring deeply about outcomes you cannot fully control. In this closing session of the year, we create space for an honest, restorative conversation about what sustainable leadership actually looks and feels like – not as a performance, but as a practice. We’ll reflect on what we’re carrying, what we might set down, and how to enter the new year with intention rather than exhaustion.
Past Topics include…
Embracing Difficult Conversations
Risk & Reward
Ethical Storytelling
Motivating a Workforce
Navigating Change
Leadership Pipeline and the Next Generation of Leaders
Breaking Down Silos
Providing Challenging Feedback
The North Star: Leading with Intention in 2026
Risk Stewardship: Leading with Intention in a Complex World
The Emotional Toll of Leadership: Leading When You’re Overwhelmed
Accelerating AI Impact in Your Organization
…and many more.
Thank you! TNPA Leadership Programming Sponsors 2026
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
To learn more about becoming a sponsor in 2026, reach out to Dominika Brice, Programs Manager, at dbrice@tnpa.org.
Enrollment is NOW OPEN for June!
The next enrollment cycle will open again in September 2026 for an October 2026 start date, so register now.
Questions? Reach out to Dominika Brice at dbrice@tnpa.org.
Participation in TNPA’s Essential Leadership Lab is open to TNPA members only.
Nonprofit Members: $549
Commercial Members: $749
Enrollment includes 12 months of Lab participation, starting in either February, June, or October.
Enrollment is CURRENTLY OPEN.
Questions? Reach out to Dominika Brice at dbrice@tnpa.org.
Who are Lab participants?
Essential Leadership Lab is a program for members of TNPA. Click here to learn about membership.
Lab participants are leaders from nonprofit organizations and commercial partners with proven experience and a passion for collaboration, innovation, and organizational health. Is this you? We invite you to join the Lab!
Thank you Platinum Sponsors!
and additional sponsors below
20% Off Educational Package now available for Member Nonprofits
Member Nonprofit Organizations receive 20% off. Register for the three programs through the TNPA Educational Package. Then, over the year, sign up a staff person for each one. The TNPA Educational Package is only $999 and includes:
– one (1) registration to Leadership Summit (September 14-16, 2026)
– one (1) registration to Rising Leaders Summit (October 2026)
– one (1) registration to Essential Leadership Lab (virtual 12-month program starting in February, June, or October)
Enrollment transfer and cancellation policies: Enrollment in the Essential Leadership Lab constitutes intent to participate for at least one year and is a commitment to the Lab experience for fellow members. Enrollment is non-transferrable as of the last date of the current enrollment registration. Lab membership remains with the individual, such that if a Lab member changes jobs or employers, the individual remains a member of the Essential Leadership Lab for the remainder of the pre-paid one-year term. No refunds will be issued after the final date of the current enrollment registration period.
TNPA DEI Accountabilities: As part of our organizational commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, TNPA strives to hold ourselves accountable for putting our principles into practice. We apply this same accountability to those who create and/or present content on our behalf:
- Be inclusive. Create content that can resonate with an array of listeners and readers.
- Speak to diversity. Recognize that members of an audience or cohort have various lived experiences.
- Recognize that systemic inequities and discrimination exist. Do your best to acknowledge how we can mitigate against them.
- Be mindful of explicit and implicit bias. Review content through the lens of varied identities.
TNPA Code of Conduct: The Nonprofit Alliance exists to foster the development and growth of nonprofit organizations and to protect the donors, members, partners, and volunteers that support them. At all educational offerings and conferences, we commit to fostering an environment free from physical, emotional, and psychological harm. We will not tolerate harassment, discrimination, and intimidation of any form. All individuals must exhibit professionalism, must demonstrate respect for others, must act with civility, and must refrain from inappropriate and unwelcomed physical contact, sexual references and aggressive advances. Anyone who experiences or witnesses a violation to these standards, should immediately contact TNPA CEO Shannon McCracken. Anyone found in violation of the TNPA Code of Conduct by any means may receive a warning, have membership suspended, registration forfeited, or experience escalation to legal authorities.
