Your Community for Real-World Change Leadership
Learn. Connect. Practice. Lead.
What the Lab does for you.
The Community of Practice is a facilitated peer-learning space for mid-to-senior level sustainability and social impact leaders who are actively leading change across organizations, industries, and communities.
Led by Lindsey Newkirk, a seasoned sustainability leader with 20 years of experience, members participate in monthly sessions to deepen their practice and build their capacity to lead through complexity—together.
Leading change without a playbook?
Leading change can feel a little like trying to untangle spaghetti.
You navigate barriers and resistance to change—often as a team of one or, if you are lucky, a small but mighty team of a few. You are constantly building awareness across diverse stakeholder groups and persuading others to buy into work that feels morally urgent.
We pick up skills and instincts along the way, but we’re often left to improvise in the face of entrenched cultures, hidden power dynamics, and political pendulum swings.
You figure it out as you go, often feeling isolated when you hit walls. All while living in a polycrisis where the very future of people and the planet feels uncertain.
That’s why now, more than ever, we need a community of practice. A place to cultivate the relationships, tools, and capacity needed to lead through complexity.
Sound familiar? You're in the right place.
Building your capacity to lead through complexity.
Building you capacity to lead through complexity is an advanced approach to leadership that doesn't come from intelligence alone. It comes from practice - in community.
That's what we do here.
I've synthesized two decades of experience with best-practice research across multiple disciplines, drawing on what top universities, global organizations, and leading researchers identify as essential for leading transformational systems change.
I bring you thoughtfully designed curriculum and facilitated dialogue that is responsive to what members need, while preserving the peer-learning spirit that makes a community of practice powerful.
Your growth emerges through thought-provoking conversations, reflective practices, and collaborative problem-solving.
Part curriculum. Part peer wisdom. Part practice.
3 Pillars of the Lab.
The Community of Practice is designed around three things every change leader needs.
Because real impact happens when change leaders are supported by community, equipped with the right tools, and empowered to lead through complexity.
A Trusted
Peer Network
AUTHENTIC RELATIONSHIPS
THAT COMPOUND OVER TIME.
Research shows that leaders who grow fastest are those embedded in trusted communities where they can think out loud, break out of their siloed thinking, and learn from peers navigating similar challenges.
This moment requires something deeper than surface-level networking—it requires peers who truly get it, including the WTF is happening in the world right now moments.
Here, you'll build relationships with professionals from different roles, industries, and sectors who bring fresh thinking to your biggest challenges and show up to give as much as they gain.
What folks say about the connections.
Design Tools for Change
PRACTICAL FRAMEWORKS THAT BRING CLARITY TO COMPLEXITY
I created the Design Tools for Change to give you structured ways to make sense of the systems you work in, the people within them, how to engage them strategically, and how to design solutions collaboratively for better buy-in.
These visual frameworks draw on fields such as systems thinking, design thinking, human-centered design, strategic communication, behavior change science, creative problem-solving, and organizational change management—adapted for the unique challenges faced by impact leaders.
Each is designed to be mixed and matched for different contexts, shared with your teams, and used in real conversations.
Want to take a peek?
What folks say about the tools.
Integrated
Leadership
A WHOLE PERSON APPROACH TO LEADING IN THROUGH COMPLEXITY
Most professional development focuses on competency; developing the skills and knowledge you need to be an expert in your field—industry best practices, technical solutions, ESG reporting, and the like. These are important table stakes, but they are not sufficient on their own.
Leading systems change requires something different. It requires capacity.
Integrated Leadership is a whole-person approach to vertical development that draws on a range of leadership methodologies (e.g., adaptive, transformational, regenerative), with a focus on building inner and interpersonal capacity for outer effectiveness.
Think of it as an upgrade to your internal operating system. To change the outer system, you first have to steward the inner one.
This isn't just soft skills work.
It's a performance differentiator.
What folks say about the leadership approach.
What’s Included in Membership
Members get access to one 90-minute facilitated session per month, plus an optional second session for those who want more — at no additional cost:
Plus, you’ll get:
Curated content aligned to the unique challenges of change leaders
Exposure to facilitation methods you can adapt for your own use
Tips for how to use AI to amplify your impact
Discounts on workshops, events, and individual coaching sessions
Organizational Rate (employer-sponsored)
$4,800/year — $1,200/quarter
This reflects the true cost of running the Community of Practice and makes it possible to offer equity pricing to those who need it.
Individual Rate (self-pay)
$3,600/year — $900/quarter
This discounted rate is available to those who do not have access to employer professional development funds or cannot write off the cost of membership as a business expense.
Developing yourself to work at this level is the most strategic investment you can make as a change leader.
Your Investment
Investment Support Tips
Equity Pricing
I recognize that access to resources varies. If membership is a stretch for you or your organization's professional development budget, you are encouraged to apply for equity pricing.
Professional Development Funds
Investment in this program not only benefits you as a leader, it also creates direct value for your employer. I encourage you to use professional development funds to cover the membership cost.
Need help getting employer sponsorship? Request a letter template that you can share with your supervisor.
If you've been looking for something deeper than skills training, this is your invitation. Founding members will help shape this community from day one.
Reserve your spot as
a founding member.
Are you ready to
✓ Navigate complexity with greater presence and clarity
✓ Increase your effectiveness to lead change without formal authority
✓ Foster resilience to sustain yourself through the long arc of systems change
✓ Cultivate collaboration skills that get change to stick
✓ Cultivate authentic relationships with peers who truly understand this work
✓ Gain fresh insights for immediate application to your real-world challenges
Save your spot now and receive special founding member pricing.
Sign up by Friday, May 9th, and receive 2 months at 50% off
Get a friend or colleague to sign up by Friday, May 30th, and you both get one month free!
A $150 deposit locks in your founding member rate, with the remaining balance due by June 30th
Yes, promotions can be combined!
FAQ
-
Communities of practice work best when everyone in the room is navigating similar challenges. This CoP is designed for mid to senior-level in-house leaders, consultants, and impact entrepreneurs who are actively leading sustainability, social impact, or ESG change initiatives.
Change leaders who are between roles are welcome!
This probably isn't the right fit if you are:
✗ Seeking entry-level guidance rather than peer-level exchange
✗ In an individual contributor role without change leadership responsibilities
✗ Primarily working in external advocacy, grassroots organizing, or legislative campaigning
-
I know your plate is already full. And that you may not have many places to process the weight of what’s happening in the world right now. This community is designed to be both a space for that and a catalyst for your growth, helping you work more effectively rather than just adding to the noise. The time investment is intentionally flexible, and as with most things, you'll get out what you put in.
Time Investment
One 90-minute online session per month
Access to an optional free 90-minute community session per month
Self-directed learning (1-3 hours/month)
Total: ~ 2.5 to 6 hours per month
Meeting Times
Meeting times will likely be held on Wednesday or Thursday mornings, 9:00 am to 10:30 am Pacific Time, on Zoom, in order to accommodate multiple time zones.
-
While regular attendance helps build community, scheduling conflicts do happen. Sessions are recorded for members who miss them, however, much of our time is spent in breakouts that recording technology can’t capture.
We try to capture key insights on our Mural board, which you can access at any time, but it’s not always possible to capture the full magic of the live interactions. You will still receive any resources that are shared that month.
-
Rather than fixed curricula with predetermined outcomes, this is an adaptive, facilitated community where learning emerges through the intersection of structured curriculum, peer dialogue, personal reflection, and collaborative problem-solving—co-created by and responsive to member needs.
By bringing together diverse perspectives, community of practice groups help leaders see their blind spots and growth edges, and develop creative solutions that they would never find in isolation.
Through this approach, members build:
→ Capacity to navigate complexity with greater presence and clarity
→ Effectiveness in influencing and building buy-in without formal authority
→ Resilience to sustain yourself through the long arc of systems change
→ Authentic relationships with peers who accelerate your growth
→ Practical tools and frameworks for immediate application to real challenges -
There are endless opportunities to grow your technical expertise—industry best practices, ESG frameworks, regulatory updates, etc. Here, the focus is on the human-centered side of leading change: building influence without authority, navigating resistance, engaging diverse stakeholders, and building the capacities that make you an effective change leader.
We also emphasize:
Live monthly connections > online community platforms
Diverse thought leadership > industry-specific niches
Peer learning > lectures
Authentic relationship-building > surface-level networking
-
Yes, you are encouraged to explore this option. Membership in the Community of Practice is a meaningful professional development investment with direct organizational value
If you need support making the case to your organization, get in touch and I will send you a letter that you can customize for your supervisor.
-
The founding cohort, the first members to join before launch, is forming now.
Joining as a founding member means you help shape the culture, norms, and direction of the community from day one. That's a rare opportunity — and one that won't be available once the community is established.
Plus, founding members are eligible for discounts – see the above section for details.
While there is merit in having a community of practitioners working in the same industry, sector, impact area, the community is intentionally designed for diverse voices to spark fresh insights.
-
The magic of community comes with building trusting relationships over time, so we don’t allow drop-ins.
We do offer a variety of events and workshops that provide you with a taste of what is offered in the community. Check out the Workshops and Events page to see what’s coming up.
-
Yes. For those paying membership fees on an annual basis, refunds are available on a pro-rated basis. For those paying on a quarterly basis, membership can be cancelled up to one week before your quarterly renewal date.
-
You're welcome here. The sustainability, social impact, and ESG workforce is navigating real disruption right now, and many brilliant leaders find themselves in transition. Staying connected to a community of practice during that time can be a valuable resource.
What matters is that you have experience as a change leader and want to deepen your practice in community. If the membership investment is a stretch while you're in transition, equity pricing is available. You are encouraged to re-evaluate what you are able to contribute when your employment situation changes.
Have additional questions?
Book a 30-minute fit call.
