Reframing Power: Black Women, Broad-Based Organizing, and the Architecture of Leading Change

Abstract

This study examines how Black women leaders experience and implement organizational change, with a particular focus on how racialized and gendered identities influence these experiences within institutional contexts. In partnership with the Groundwater Institute (GWI), a national network that supports senior leaders across sectors in advancing equity, particularly racial equity, we examined how organizational structures themselves mediate change through their design and the exercise of power. To explore these dynamics, we employed a mixed-methods design grounded in ethnographic principles, combining survey research, focus groups, and exploratory qualitative interviews. Our findings surfaced six key insights for GWI’s leadership network and the broader field of organizational change:

Organizing Practices as Strategy: Regardless of formal authority, Black women consistently rely on broad-based organizing strategies, mobilizing relational networks, building alliances, and engaging coalitions, to drive change and enhance their perceived legitimacy. Institutional Resistance: Racial and gender-based resistance significantly shapes Black women’s leadership journeys, limiting their authority while demanding heightened strategic acumen to navigate power-laden environments. Compounded Barriers at the Top: Those in executive and middle management positions report the most acute exposure to structural, cultural, and interpersonal constraints, illustrating the compounded nature of barriers at higher levels of leadership. Intra-Group Resistance: Black women often encounter resistance from colleagues who share their racial or gender identity when advancing non-normative leadership approaches. Strategic Emotional Labor: In response to such resistance, Black women draw on care, emotional labor, and collective power to sustain leadership and advance change. Call for a New Model: While relational capital is a critical source of power, many participants emphasized the need for a new model of change leadership, one that better translates relational power into sustained, strategic action. These findings contribute to the discourse on racialized leadership, expand the field’s understanding of institutional change, and offer practical implications for organizations seeking to develop equity-centered leadership models responsive to those leading from the margins of power.