Company: The Center for Community Self-Help (“Self Help”)
Function: Nonprofit
Industry: Banking
Fun Facts:
- Since 1980, Self-Help has provided more than $12 billion in financing to more than 174,000 families, small businesses, and nonprofits across the country.
- They are comprised of 4 lines of business: Self-Help Federal Credit Union (44 branches in CA, CT, IL, SC, WA, and WI), Self-Help Credit Union (36 branches in NC, FL, GA, and VA), The Center for Responsible Lending, and Self-Help Ventures Fund.
- Self-Help is creating short video histories of the credit unions that have joined its family over the past two decades, capturing stories of Black farmers, teachers, textile workers, and migrant farmworkers who founded credit unions to serve their communities.
TL;DR: The Center for Community Self-Help, a Community Development Financial Institution, faced rapid growth with no formal leadership development programs and only a one-person L&D team. To address inconsistent and ad-hoc trainings, they partnered with LifeLabs Learning to roll out scalable, practical leadership programs. Over 200 managers — more than 80% of all people leaders — have now completed Manager Core, including the entire executive team. The result: a consistent leadership framework, a shared language across managers and staff, and a cultural shift that makes leadership skills visible in everyday work.
Situation
The Center for Community Self-Help is a national nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution that expands economic opportunity for underserved communities through credit unions, lending, and advocacy. With about 850 employees at the time (now nearing 1,000) and an L&D team of one (now two), the organization wanted to expand and unify its infrequent and inconsistent leadership development efforts. It sought a solution that was scalable, easy to deploy, culturally aligned, and affordable.
With geographically dispersed branches, Self-Help needed a cohesive way to upskill People leaders without building and facilitating everything in-house. Virtual delivery, applicability, and scale were critical.
“The People Team at the Center for Community Self-Help believes that People Make the Mission Possible. That’s why we partner with LifeLabs Learning to invest in our managers as multipliers — leaders who amplify their teams — and in our individual contributors, whose skills bring our mission to life. This investment builds the capabilities and confidence our people need to build strong teams that can deliver lasting impact in the communities we serve.” -Stephanie Barnes-Simms, EVP (Executive Vice President)
Solution
Building a scalable foundation
Self-Help partnered with LifeLabs Learning to create a structured leadership development program that could scale across its dispersed workforce. The program began with Manager CORE, offered in large cohorts to reach the majority of People leaders quickly. Each workshop emphasized skills managers could apply the very same day.
“We needed people to leave a session and immediately implement what they’d learned.” – Katrin Baker, Director of L&D
Integrating into onboarding
Manager CORE soon became the cornerstone of a one-year onboarding journey for new managers. This experience expanded to include a three-day in-person program focused on leadership identity and fundamentals, as well as a digital toolkit of templates and resources for everyday use. Leaders were encouraged to apply LifeLabs frameworks in real time and revisit materials with their teams.
Beyond the basics
To extend the impact beyond foundational management training, Self-Help introduced additional custom programs such as Beyond the CORE (Manager CORE Part 2 + hybrid team content) for advanced leadership skills, and Everyday Leadership Core (its in-house name for Individual Contributor Core). This broadened access to LifeLabs concepts, ensuring employees at every level shared a consistent language and toolkit.
Partnering for cultural alignment
LifeLabs Learning provided research-based, turnkey workshops and acted as a strategic partner for Self-Help’s small L&D team. It ensured the program was aligned with the nonprofit’s values, affordable within nonprofit constraints, and engaging for staff across locations. This partnership transformed leadership development from a patchwork of ad-hoc offerings into a cohesive, repeatable system that continues to grow with the organization.
“As a nonprofit, every dollar matters. LifeLabs has been a significant but worthwhile investment. We keep coming back because it’s had such an impact on us as an organization.” – Katrin Baker, Director of L&D
| Featured Programs & Workshops • Manager CORE (Parts 1 & 2) • Managing Distributed Employees • Leading Change • Inclusive Interviewing • Group Practice & Coaching (Feedback Skills + Coaching Skills) |
Results
By the Numbers
Within just a few years, Self-Help’s leadership program reached nearly every People leader, creating a foundation of consistency across the organization.
- 200+ managers trained through Manager CORE
- >80% completion rate among People leaders
- 3 out of 4 managers currently building skills through the program
- 100% of the executive team (including the CEO/founder) completed Manager CORE
10+ cohorts completed across Parts 1 & 2, with additional programs layered in
Culture Change You Can See (and Hear)
One of the standout signs of impact at Self-Help has been the culture shift in everyday conversations. Managers and individual contributors now share a common language, referencing LifeLabs frameworks in meetings and chats. What once felt like new tools are now embedded habits, shaping how Self-Help communicates and collaborates at every level.
| Why It Worked • Practical & sticky: Leaders can apply tactics immediately after each session. • Scaled access: Cohort-based delivery worked across a dispersed workforce. • Partnership fit: Affordable, values-aligned content for a nonprofit context, enabling a team-of-one/two to deliver enterprise-wide impact. |
A structured and skill-based approach
Self-Help moved from inconsistent trainings to a structured development engine that builds shared expectations across the organization. People Partners now use LifeLabs tools to coach managers in real time, making skills easier to apply day to day. A new cultural norm has also emerged: feedback is often framed around the question, “What would make this 10% better?” — a phrase that captures the shift toward continuous, practical growth.
Conclusion
Looking ahead, Self-Help is focused on retention and refresh. The team is exploring lightweight practice sessions and short refresher workshops to help alums keep skills top-of-mind. They are also considering LifeLabs train-the-trainer options to reinforce learning.
| Key learnings for growing organizations • Start with structure: Moving from one-off workshops to a consistent development engine creates alignment and shared expectations. • Secure executive buy-in: Having the CEO and executive team complete the program signaled commitment and accelerated adoption. • Reinforce with tools: Tangible resources like templates and visual reminders keep skills alive long after training sessions. • Plan for retention: Short refreshers and train-the-trainer options can sustain learning while reducing the burden on small L&D teams. “For Self-Help, every dollar invested with LifeLabs paid off many times over — not just in stronger leaders, but in a stronger culture.” – Katrin Baker, Director of L&D |
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