Staging environment

Strategy Masterclass for Nonprofit Leaders

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7 Days

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Cohort-based Course

Master the art and craft of nonprofit strategy during uncertainty. Become a more effective leader during these unprecedented times.

Previously at leading institutions incl.

Harvard University
Ford Foundation
Open Society Foundations
Tufts University
UCLA

Course overview

What you will learn

Your ability as a nonprofit leader to shape, implement, and communicate strategy is essential for your success–and the organization’s survival and impact. 


We are in unprecedented times--and leaders are being put to the test. We'll deep dive into adaptive planning, scenario planning, building organizational resilience--all while building buy-in and tackling resistance.


You will learn from a leading expert in social impact strategy and leadership who has taught at leading universities, launched and scaled multi-million dollar programs globally and domestically, and coached and advised numerous leaders.


You will be part of a peer cohort working on live examples, projects, and deep dive discussions with leading experts.

Who is this course for

01

You are a leader of a nonprofit organization. Your title might be executive director, board member, or a member of the leadership team.

02

Your program or nonprofit organization is facing significant shifts in the external landscape.

03

You are leading or part of an organization with new or established programs, and are desperately in need of fresh, creative, strategic think

What you’ll get out of this course

Establish and strengthen your personal strategic leadership expertise and credentials

Learn to stand out as a strategic thought leader.

Lead Strategic Change Amidst Uncertainty

Understand how to gather and prioritize key information and translate into collective action.

Analyze and interpret the internal and external forces that affect the strategy for your organization

Are you and your team overwhelmed by lack of clarity, conflicting priorities, and new emergencies? We will take a step back to assess the key internal and external forces affecting your strategic and impact using a template I have created specially for this course.

Construct and hone your theory of change

Do you have a mission and vision? What about a theory of change? We'll construct, analyze, and hone these key building blocks of strategy.

Prioritize and apply the concept of “distinctive positioning” to help you design and communicate your unique value-add

What makes your work unique? Project work, worksheets, and deep dive collaboration will help you with distinctive positioning.

Access one-of-a-kind frameworks and actionable tactics to help you create, sharpen, or revisit strategy

The frameworks, templates, and concepts I have developed for this course and will share in the pre-reads, during the live class, and after will be available for you to download and use during the course and after the conclusion of the course.

What’s included

Sushma Raman

Live sessions

Learn directly from Sushma Raman in a real-time, interactive format.

Lifetime access

Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.

Community of peers

Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.

Certificate of completion

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

Maven Guarantee

This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.

Course syllabus

5 live sessions • 6 lessons • 6 projects

Week 1

Sep 11—Sep 14

    Session 1 Content

    • Sep

      11

      Session 1 Event (includes zoom link)

      Thu 9/114:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)
    2 more items

    Session 2 Content

    • Sep

      12

      Session 2 Event (includes zoom link)

      Fri 9/124:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)
    2 more items

Week 2

Sep 15—Sep 17

    Session 3 Content

    • Sep

      15

      Session 3 Event (includes zoom link)

      Mon 9/154:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)
    2 more items

    Session 4 Content

    • Sep

      16

      Session 4 Event (includes zoom link)

      Tue 9/164:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)
    2 more items

    Session 5 Content

    • Sep

      17

      Session 5 Event (includes zoom link)

      Wed 9/174:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)
    2 more items

Post-course

    Capstone Project

    2 items

What students are saying

Sushma was very knowledgeable and gave good feedback. I would take another class taught by her.

Karen

Cohort 1

President/CEO/RN/LSW

Another Perspective of Life Inc

Wonderfully insightful class! Whether you work at a nonprofit or will create your own nonprofit organization , this class is for you!!! Sushma Raman is an expert in this field. Take her class so you can learn from the master!

Jasmine

Cohort 1

Associate Dept Administrator

Northwestern University

While I had previously engaged in strategy development processes, both in leading and supporting roles, I recognized the need to deepen my understanding by complementing my practical experience with strategic planning theories and structured methodologies. This course proved an invaluable stepping stone in the right direction, equipping me with the tools, insights, and frameworks necessary to enhance my approach. It strengthened my strategic thinking and provided me with the confidence and clarity I needed to excel at this stage of my career growth. Beyond the course content, Sushma is an exceptional facilitator. She generously shares her vast experience, skillfully draws on her expertise, and takes a highly practical approach to designing both the course structure and the associated workload.

Farnoosh

Cohort 1

Senior Policy Attorney

National Center for Youth Law

I learned so much in this course from Sushma that I will take with me—more confidently now—into future endeavors. Sushma is incredibly knowledgeable about the nonprofit world and knows how to successfully build an organization's strategy from the ground up. I appreciated her teaching style in the course, where lecture videos were provided beforehand, and classroom time was spent on valuable discussions between all members of the course, collaborations and feedback on fellow students' strategies that they have built with Sushma's guidance, and question-and-answer sessions with Sushma to answer any and all questions about the nonprofit space and developing a strategy that will bring both meaning and attention to your organization. This course was useful for someone who is at any stage of their nonprofit work, from those who are starting a nonprofit from scratch and seeking help with the initial basics, to those who have entered leadership roles at established nonprofits and are looking to build or reframe the organization's strategy. I learned so much from this course and would certainly return for other courses provided by Sushma in the future.

Ali

Cohort 1

Director of Communications

Harvard University

Great class on to developing strategic plannings for a non-profit foundation.

Myra

Cohort 1

Retired

Family Organization

The course with Sushma was a good learning experience. It provided valuable insights and practical wisdom from the social impact space. Sushma did a fantastic job of breaking down the strategy-building process, focusing on the "why," "what," and "how," which helped deepen my understanding of the subject. The platform itself offers a great opportunity to both learn and unlearn various techniques, approaches, and outcomes. Overall, the course was well-structured and effectively delivered, making it a highly engaging and informative experience.

Preena

Cohort 1

Meet your instructor

Sushma Raman

Sushma Raman

Sushma is a leading social impact strategist and philanthropic leader who has taught strategy, negotiation, leadership, and communications at leading universities, developed strategy and launched and scaled multi-million dollar programs at leading philanthropies, and served on numerous boards.


For more information, please follow

Sushma on LinkedIn.

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

Strategy Masterclass for Nonprofit Leaders

Cohort fall 2025

$1,000

Dates

Sep 11—17, 2025

Payment Deadline

Sep 10, 2025
Get reimbursed

Course schedule

6 hours

  • Thursday, September 11th - Wednesday, September 17th

    12:00pm - 1:15 pm ET


  • Thursday, May 29 - Wednesday June 4, 2025

    12:00 - 1:15 pm ET

    Thursday, Sep 11: Strategy amidst Uncertainty


    Friday, Sep 12: Assessing a Rapidly Shifting Landscape


    Monday, Sep 15: Adaptive & Scenario Planning


    Tuesday, Sep 16: Building Buy-In, Tackling Resistance


    Wednesday, Sep 17: Show Me the Money

  • Weekly projects

    2 - 4 hours

    Work on projects that apply the learnings from the course.


    Materials can be accessed beyond the course timeline, allowing participants to deepen learning over time.

Learning is better with cohorts

Learning is better with cohorts

Active hands-on learning

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Interactive and project-based

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Learn with a cohort of peers

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Frequently Asked Questions

Stay in the loop

Sign up to be the first to know about course updates.

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

Strategy Masterclass for Nonprofit Leaders

Cohort fall 2025

$1,000

Dates

Sep 11—17, 2025

Payment Deadline

Sep 10, 2025
Get reimbursed

$1,000

USD

·

7 Days