Echoing Green

This case presents the leadership challenges that Cheryl Dorsey, the president of Echoing Green, faces in early 2009. Echoing Green is a fellowship program that seeks to improve society by identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs who launch organizations to attack some of the world's most difficult problems. After turning Echoing Green around and re-building an organization almost from scratch over the last 7 years, Dorsey feels that Echoing Green is at a crossroads as it is facing much more competition. Adding to Dorsey's challenges, in late 2008 the economy is in crisis and many Echoing Green supporters are reducing or delaying their donations. In this situation, Dorsey has to decide whether, and if so how, to change Echoing Green's strategy as well as whether she is the right person to continue to lead the organization.