The Transformation: Building What’s Next (Issue 1)

Leaders Up
2 days ago
3 min read

By Dahab Hagos-Fewell

The Shift | Issue 1 – Building Youth Power

Transformation: A Discipline, Not Just a Department

Too often, organizations treat transformation as the work of a single department or leader. At LeadersUp, we see it differently. Transformation is a discipline that we practice both internally with our team and externally in our role as an intermediary across the state of California.

This approach enables us to embody our values consistently: whether we’re developing systems to support our staff or co-creating solutions with employers, funders, and policymakers, transformation is not a one-off project. It’s our way of working.

What We Mean by Transformation

When we talk about transformation, we mean a disciplined practice of aligning people, systems, and culture so that our organization, and those we partner with, can adapt, innovate, and deliver on the promise of a future-proof economy.

Our Office of Transformation anchors this practice through four pillars that guide both how we operate internally and how we serve as an intermediary:

Strategic Alignment & Storytelling - Internally, this means ensuring that every project aligns with LeadersUp’s strategic goals and that narrative change is effectively integrated into the delivery process. Externally, it means helping partners align their strategies and narratives to amplify impact and visibility.
Capacity Building & Creative Enablement - Within our team, we standardize tools and provide coaching so staff can manage projects with clarity and creativity. With our partners, we extend this by equipping employers, funders, and community leaders with practical methodologies that support innovation and operational excellence.
Performance & Impact Management - Internally, we monitor progress and embed shared metrics across teams to strengthen decision-making and accountability. Externally, we bring that same rigor to collaboratives, tracking outcomes, surfacing insights, and sharing the full story of impact in alignment with systemic change through research and access to rich insights via dashboards.
Knowledge Management & Continuous Improvement - Inside the organization, we document learnings and conduct retrospectives to drive growth. Externally, we facilitate shared learning across stakeholders, ensuring that insights fuel continuous improvement at the ecosystem level.

What Transformation Is and Isn’t

Internally and externally, we often hear misconceptions:

“Transformation is a one-time project.” In reality, it’s ongoing and iterative.
“Transformation is top-down.” At LeadersUp, every staff member and every partner plays a role.
“Transformation is technical.” While systems matter, culture and wellness drive whether change lasts.

By reframing transformation as a discipline, we shift it from something to fear into something to practice daily.

Centering Youth Voice as a Core Discipline

Transformation is not only about systems and structures—it’s about shifting power. At LeadersUp, we believe transformation must center the voices of young adults because they are not just the future of the economy; they are its present. Building youth power means positioning young adults as co-creators, not just participants, in shaping the pathways and policies that affect their lives.

This is evident in various ways across our areas of work. In program design, young adults inform the strategies that guide career readiness and workforce innovation. In our policy work, their insights shape recommendations that challenge the status quo and drive systemic change. In employer engagement, we amplify youth perspectives to ensure that training and workplace environments are not only accessible but also equitable.

By centering young adult voices in all areas of our Transformation efforts, we ensure that our impact is not top-down. Instead, it becomes intentional, ensuring young adults have the agency to define and lead what an inclusive, future-proof economy looks like to them and for them.

Dahab Hagos-Fewell is the Vice President, Head of Transformation at LeadersUp, driving organizational alignment and cross-functional execution across the organization’s portfolios.