Executive directors & CEOs
Leaders carrying growth, transition, or a moment that asks more of them than the org chart was built for.
Organizational development for the U.S. South
Build the institution the work deserves.
The Alignment Group helps Southern leaders and mission-driven organizations bring vision, structure, and people into alignment, so the work can grow without breaking and outlast any one person carrying it.
13 → 40+
sponsored projects supported across the South
$2M → $28M
organizational revenue growth, built on real infrastructure
36%+
increase in staff pay while scaling the team
20 years
of organizing and institution building in the South
What is The Alignment Group
Alignment isn’t unison.
A great band isn’t everyone playing the same note. It’s everyone locked into the same time and the same key, so each voice can do its own work and still build one sound. Organizations are no different. When the vision, the structure, and the people are in tune, a team can improvise, take on more, and hold together under pressure.
The Alignment Group is an organizational and leadership development practice led by Joshua Vincent. We work alongside executive directors, boards, and teams across the South to design the systems, leadership, and strategy that let mission-driven work grow, and last.
We don’t hand you a binder and leave. We help you build the architecture: clear roles and decisions, leaders ready for what’s next, and infrastructure strong enough to carry the next generation of the work.
Who we work with
Boards
Boards working to clarify their role, strengthen governance, and plan responsibly for leadership succession.
Grassroots & movement organizations
Organizations rooted in community power that are ready to build the infrastructure to match their ambition.
Intermediaries & fiscal sponsors
Anchor institutions supporting many projects at once, where systems and staff have to scale together.
Funders investing in the South
Philanthropic partners who want their grantees to grow stronger, not just busier.
Faith & cultural institutions
Congregations, cultural organizations, and coalitions that hold community memory and want to build for the long haul.
Why it matters now
The South doesn’t need more urgency. It needs infrastructure.
History is clear: every time Southern communities have won real power, from Reconstruction to the Fusion era to Moral Mondays, the response has been to restrict their capacity to govern. The lesson isn’t only to win. It’s to build what can’t be taken back.
Rights and representation are under pressure.
With the 2026 Louisiana v. Callais decision and continued erosion of the Voting Rights Act, Southern organizations are being asked to do more, with higher stakes, than at any point in a generation.
Growth outpaced structure.
Many organizations grew quickly after 2020. Now budgets are tightening, and teams are discovering where their systems, roles, and governance were never built to hold the weight.
A generation of leaders is in transition.
Founders and long-tenured leaders are stepping back. Without a plan, transitions become crises. With one, they become the moment an organization comes into its own.
The South has always been underinvested.
Southern organizations have long received a smaller share of national philanthropy than the region’s needs and leadership warrant. Strong infrastructure is how the work makes every dollar and every person count.
Services
Five ways we help organizations get aligned and stay that way.
Every engagement is built around where you are. Most clients start with one area and find the others connected.
01
Organizational Development
Design the structure, roles, and decision-making that let your organization work the way your mission requires.
- Organizational assessments and alignment reviews
- Structure, roles, and decision-rights design
- Board and governance development
- SOPs, evaluation tools, and operating systems
02
Strategy
Set direction on a real time horizon. We help you see the long game, then build the plan that gets you there.
- Strategic planning with 3, 10, and 20-year horizons
- Growth and sustainability strategy
- Coalition and ecosystem strategy across sectors
- Election-cycle assessments and close-outs
03
Leadership Coaching & Development
Support for the people holding the most weight, from executive directors to the next layer of leaders coming up behind them.
- One-on-one executive coaching
- Senior and executive team development
- Leadership cohorts and retreats
- Coaching for leaders navigating hard decisions
04
Succession Planning
Plan leadership transitions before they become emergencies, and carry them out in a way that protects people, mission, and relationships.
- Executive succession and transition planning
- Sabbatical and leadership delegation plans
- Interim leadership design and board guidance
- Building the bench of emerging leaders
05
Infrastructure for Staff Growth
Build the systems that let your people grow with the organization instead of burning out inside it.
- HR and people-operations infrastructure
- Compensation and career-pathway design
- Internal communications and accountability flows
- Finance and operations brought in-house
Not sure where to start?
Most organizations feel the problem before they can name it. A first conversation helps us find the real starting point together.
How we work
1
Listen
We start with conversations across your leadership, staff, and board to understand what’s really happening.
2
Map
We name where vision, structure, and people are out of alignment, and agree on what matters most to fix first.
3
Build
We build alongside you, through project work, coaching, or an ongoing advisory relationship, until it holds without us.
Engagement formats: project-based work · monthly advisory retainers · executive coaching · retreats and workshops · keynotes and speaking
At a glance
- Former Executive Director, Southern Vision Alliance
- Co-founder, InheritaNCe
- NAACP NC State Conference, Moral Monday movement
- Field organizer, Obama 2008, North Carolina
- MA in History, North Carolina Central University
- MM in Jazz Trombone Performance, CSU East Bay
- Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, 2024
About Joshua Vincent
An organizer, historian, and musician who builds institutions.
Joshua Vincent was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has spent nearly two decades organizing and building across the South. He cut his teeth as a field organizer on the 2008 Obama campaign in North Carolina, then served as State Coordinator for Civic Engagement at the NAACP North Carolina State Conference under Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II during the Moral Monday movement.
As Executive Director of Southern Vision Alliance, Joshua led one of the South’s anchor movement institutions through a period of major growth: from 13 sponsored projects and about $2 million in revenue to more than 40 projects and roughly $28 million. Along the way he raised staff pay by more than a third, brought finance and HR in-house, built the systems that let dozens of grassroots projects grow safely, and convened 500 leaders from across the region at the Southern Summit.
He is co-founder of InheritaNCe, a covenantal formation of 35 leaders from 15 organizations working toward a 20-year horizon for liberation in the South, and is writing Architects of the Unseen, a book on building forward for people whose faces you may never see.
Joshua brings a historian’s long view, a jazz musician’s ear for how an ensemble locks in, and an operator’s discipline for building systems that hold. He holds an MA in History from North Carolina Central University, focused on African diasporic music, and an MM in Jazz Trombone Performance from Cal State East Bay, and is a published scholar in the Journal of Pan African Studies.
“Lasting change is not just about the movements we lead today, but the institutions we build, the leaders we develop, and the foundations we leave for generations we may never meet.”
Inquire
Let’s talk about what you’re building.
Tell us a little about your organization and what’s on your mind. Joshua personally reads every inquiry and will follow up within a few business days.
Based in Durham, North Carolina. Working across the U.S. South.