Leadership
Co-Op

The Leadership Co-op supports and connects value-driven leaders as they pursue their passion to affect lasting change in their organizations and the world beyond

Learn, Grow, Hope, Be The Change
Without burning out...

What Motivates Leaders

Leadership is wonderful and demanding. You are asked to be ‘super human’. You also ask that of yourselves as you work to create positive, equitable change in the world.You are committed to:

  • Leading with inspiration

  • Developing individuals and teams

  • Remaining strong through challenges and crises

  • Guiding effective, inclusive change

  • Fostering measurable improvement

  • Powering through, ignoring your fatigue and fears...

What Motivates the Co-op

We thrive when you feel confident in and excited about the monumental work of leadership while not ignoring your inner voice!

Laurie Francis, BSN, MPH, along with her close colleagues, has the humility and leadership experience to partner with you on the opportunities and challenges of leadership. Her approach is neither formula nor philosophy, but rather a combination of both – it’s about delivering value and support where you need it and how you need it, in a way that welcomes you as both an organizational leader and a living, breathing, feeling human being. She and her team align with you to maximize your impact while you flourish in your role.Over the past two decades, Laurie founded a health center, served as a CEO three times for a total of 17 years, celebrated organizational success as MT's employer of choice, was a founding organizer of two foundations and numerous programs, designed and facilitated CEO learning cohorts across the US, and consistently built equity and justice into all her work.Through these various exposures, Laurie became patently aware of the joy of leadership and the associated exhausting challenges. As a result, she is delighted to join forces with passionate leaders and dedicated boards as they navigate the broad array of sticky, isolating challenges with the intention of leaving the world better than they found it.

Our Programs

The Peer Cooperative

Join us. Together we are better!Leadership Co-op Dinners – dynamic discussions in which CEOs come together with minimal pre-reading to explore topics and share challenges in a safe setting.
Study Groups - generative cohorts that foster effective use of leadership tools in planning and implementation, data, communication, teamwork, delegation, and accountability.

  • CEOs/senior leaders

  • Set goals of group, together and individually,

  • Attend to sticky challenges

  • Meet regularly, 1.5-2 hours (group driven)

  • Group size: 8-12

  • 6-session commitment - ideal

Cooperative Partnerships

Work with individuals, leadership teams, and/or whole organizations to cultivate connection to each other in pursuit of the organization’s mission and vision. Gain an understanding of where the organization is in terms of strategic areas of focus. Develop a plan that reflects leadership's professional and personal goals, values, strengths, and
uniqueness.

  • Define the leader’s goals – personal, professional, and/or organizational

  • Clarify individual and organizational values that define next steps

  • Develop the process to achieve goals based on individual and organization’s desires and constraints

  • Create and implement a values-infused plan

Succession Readiness

The goal of a succession plan is to build “bench strength”, develop a pipeline of strong leaders, maintain a strategic position/plan, and outline steps to take for both unexpected and expected high level transitions.The components of the plan include board readiness, emergency vs planned transitions, organizational strength, and internal and external landscape.

  • Assessment of the board’s will and concerns

  • Review of the current state of the organization and its bench strength

  • Clear definition of needs, goals, and organizational values

  • Co-design plan

  • Implement and hire!

References / Credentials

"My work involves the intersection of leadership development, community organizing, and health justice. In my years of knowing Laurie, she has demonstrated a unique ability to blend the relational skills necessary for inner/cultural change of organizations, alongside of the technical skills necessary for outer/structural change of systems. And these skills manifest in a way that feels both open to innovative ideas, humble to lift others up for their contributions, and adaptable to acknowledge the emergence inherent to complex systems (like healthcare!)."Brian Park, MD MPH
Assistant Professor
Director, RELATE Lab (Relational Leadership Institute [RLI]; Health Equity and Leadership [HEAL-R])
Oregon Health & Science University

“Laurie is focused entirely and only on the things that matter most in health care – centering patient experience, empowering staff, creating equity, and building trust and relationships.  Using her skills as a builder, she helps organizations manifest these strengths without angst or fuss. Laurie has more than 25 years of successes to show for her brand of effective and insightful leadership.”Katie Coleman
Lead |  Practice Transformation, Population Health Management Initiative
Co-Director |  SONNET Social Needs Network for Evaluation and Translation

"Laurie is a compassionate leader who leads by example from a place of optimism and resilience. She cultivates trust from her community, stakeholders, and colleagues by being solution-focused and human-centric. Laurie’s relationship building skills and clear communication around how it is possible to tackle systemic issues is the foundation of uniting coalitions of diverse community leaders."Skye McGinty
Chief Executive Officer
All Nations Health Center

“Working with Laurie not only built our organizational toolbox, it helped identify and develop leadership strengths in our team. Laurie works alongside leadership teams to co-develop inclusive and thoughtful strategies. She doesn't come in to an organization and tell you what to do; she shares her experiences, asks provocative questions, and facilitates to develop the best-fit solution for your unique needs. It is an empowering process and leaves an organization with value that will live on within your practices long after Laurie is no longer engaged.”Jessica Allred
Director of Development and Advocacy
Missoula Foodbank and Community Center

Educational BackgroundLaurie has a BA from Stanford University, a BSN from Montana State University, and an MPH from University of Washington.
She has practiced, trained, and taught facilitative leadership for 15 years.

Contact

We look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you