From Ad Hoc Practice to a Culture of Change

New Moms’ mission is to strengthen families by partnering with young moms as they progress toward housing stability, economic mobility, and family well-being.

Challenges

New Moms had long named change management as a core leadership competency in its Leading for Impact (LFI) framework. But there was minimal training behind it and no replicable process to support staff or managers in moving through complex, multi-stakeholder decisions. As Dana Emanuel, Vice President of Learning & Impact, put it: complex projects felt like “important, but informal and ad-hoc, case-by-case initiatives." Meanwhile, the pace of technology change was accelerating, and leaders were either avoiding difficult decisions or underestimating the true cost of change on their teams.

Solution

Clarity delivered a tiered training program designed for lasting adoption, not a one-time workshop. All staff received training in managing self through change and project planning fundamentals. Managers received additional training on managing others through change and how to use project charters to create clear scope and shared ownership for complex initiatives.

Alongside the formal training, Clarity worked closely with Dana to apply the Change Cycle and project tools in real time, building her capacity to lead and replicate the methodology across the organization.

Results

✓ A competency with real substance behind it. Change management was already in New Moms’ LFI framework as a named expectation for leaders. Clarity’s training made it concrete, giving staff and managers tools to develop from beginner to advanced on a skill they were already being evaluated on.

✓ The Change Cycle language took root. Red, yellow, green. The stages of change became part of how New Moms talks about what people are experiencing, normalizing resistance without excusing it, and giving managers a map for what to do next rather than just waiting it out.

✓More courageous decision-making. When a vendor contract came up for renewal, New Moms had a choice: a proficient incumbent requiring no change, or an exemplary new vendor that would require transition. Leadership chose the harder option because it was better for participants. “Without the Change Cycle language and roadmap, I think it would have been harder for me as a leader to say, we can do this.”

✓ Managers who can champion decisions and hold the line. Training helped managers distinguish between what they are responsible for (clear process, honest communication, holding space for questions, and gathering key stakeholder perspectives) and what they are not (making people like the decision). That shift reduced the tendency to align with staff against organizational decisions and gave managers a more honest, effective way to lead through resistance.