LA-Más: Can Co-Leadership Improve Outcomes for Organizations and the Communities they Serve?

by Nora L. Silver and Stella Chung
01 Oct 2021

LA-Más is a nonprofit that combines design and architecture with policy experience to promote neighborhood resilience and elevate the voice of working-class communities of color in Northeast Los Angeles. The organization has created impactful projects from street improvements, enhanced storefronts, and affordable backyard homes. Is co-leadership or gender the keys to its success? Some stakeholders said dual leadership - with its potential for additive skill sets and professional networks - enhanced an organizations' ability to authentically support diverse communities. Others said co-leadership brought more tensions and lack of clarity to an organization's mission. This case explores whether or not a co-leadership model would benefit an organization.