The Challenge
Eighteen years is a long time to carry something this important.
This northern Tanzania-based nonprofit has spent nearly two decades providing comprehensive pre- and post-operative care for children with treatable disabilities — a high-love, low-cost rehabilitative model that changes the trajectory of young lives. The founder built it. She fought for it. She sustained it through the kind of grit that most organisations never need to find.
But after 18 years, she reached a turning point.
Not because she was burned out. Not because the organisation was struggling. But because she was wise enough to recognise that her best contribution to the next chapter of this work was not the same as the contribution she had made in the first chapter. The day-to-day running of the organisation no longer sat where her energy and passion lived. Her real value — to the mission, to the children, to the future of the organisation — was in relationships, stakeholder engagement, and fundraising. The business needed someone to run it. She needed the freedom to focus on what she was built for.
What she needed was a trusted partner to help her design the path from here to there. Carefully. Intentionally. Without losing any of what she had spent 18 years creating.
The Starting Point
The engagement began with listening.
ADP Advisory took time to understand not just the organisational structure but the person at the centre of it. What gave her energy? What drained it? Where did her skills and passion genuinely sit? What would need to be in place for her to step back with confidence, rather than anxiety?
From those conversations, a clear picture emerged. The organisation needed a Deputy CEO — someone who could take ownership of day-to-day operations, give the founder real breathing room, and build the internal capacity to eventually step into the substantive CEO role. The transition needed a timeline, a structure, and the right person in the right seat.
ADP Advisory visited the site. Met with staff. Sat with Board members. Spent time with children who had benefited from the services and their parents. This was not a desk exercise. Understanding what was at stake required being present in the place where the mission actually lives.
The Solution
Organisational Review and Structure
ADP Advisory conducted a full review of the existing organisational structure, identifying the gaps and the roles that were missing. The analysis made clear what the organisation needed to function effectively beyond the founder — and where accountability needed to sit as it moved into its next phase.
Deputy CEO Recruitment
A bespoke Deputy CEO recruitment process was designed from scratch. This included the full selection methodology, an assessment centre built to test not just technical capability but values alignment and mission fit, and trained assessors who could evaluate candidates with rigour and confidence.
A Deputy CEO was hired. From day one, a structured 9 to 12 month shadowing programme was in place, giving the incoming leader time to absorb the culture, build relationships, and develop the operational understanding that cannot be rushed. A tailored induction programme was created alongside a set of KPIs to provide clarity and measurable milestones throughout the handover period.
People Planning and Team Alignment
ADP Advisory facilitated a senior team offsite designed to surface what the organisation truly needed from its people over the next three years. This was not a theoretical exercise. It produced a genuine people plan — grounded in the organisation’s mission, realistic about its capacity, and clear about the investment required in leadership and structure to sustain the work.
Systems, Processes, and Clarity
Job descriptions were written. Standard operating processes were documented. Ways of working were created and rolled out to give the organisation the structural foundations it needed to function consistently — regardless of who was in the room.
The Results
The founder successfully transitioned into a newly created Board-level role, fully focused on stakeholder engagement and fundraising. The work she does now is the work she was always meant to be doing at this stage — using her networks, her relationships, and her deep belief in the mission to open doors that secure the organisation’s long-term future.
The Deputy CEO is in post, moving through a structured handover programme designed to support a confident, unhurried transition into the substantive CEO role. The organisation has documented processes, defined roles, and a three-year people plan to guide its development.
Eighteen years of mission-driven work — protected and positioned to go further.
“After 18 years, she knew it was time to plan for the future. She just needed someone to show her how — carefully, honestly, and with the kind of respect for what she had built that this work deserved.”
— Tarvinder Puri, Managing Director, ADP Advisory Services Ltd
Planning your own leadership transition or succession? Let’s make sure it’s done right. Get in touch with ADP Advisory.