Bridgespan Group co-founder and managing partner Jeff Bradach guides the development of the organization, its knowledge strategy, and the Bridgestar initiative, which seeks to increase the flow of talented leaders into and within the nonprofit sector.
In this role, Jeff works personally on a variety of nonprofit client and foundation engagements, focusing on issues of strategy and scale. He also writes, teaches and speaks extensively on topics relating to nonprofit strategy, business planning, and philanthropy. He is the author of “Going to Scale: The Challenge of Replicating Social Programs,” (Stanford Social Innovation Review premiere issue, Spring 2003) and the co-author, with Bridgespan partner William Foster, of “Should Nonprofits Seek Profits?”, which appeared in the Harvard Business Review, February 2005. His most recent article, co-authored with Bridgespan colleagues Tom Tierney and Nan Stone, is “Delivering on the Promise of Nonprofits,” (Harvard Business Review, December 2008).
Prior to helping establish the Bridgespan Group, Jeff served for seven years on the faculty of the Harvard Business School, where he was a member of the Organizational Behavior area and the Social Enterprise Initiative. His research focused on the strategy and organization of multi-site enterprises, human resource practices in the new economy, and nonprofit strategy.
While at Harvard he assisted in the design and delivery of two executive education courses: “Strategic Giving,” designed to help philanthropists develop high-impact strategies for giving; and “Strategic Perspectives on Nonprofit Management,” which emphasizes issues of strategy and organization for nonprofits.
Jeff’s earlier publications include the book Franchise Organizations (Harvard Business School Publishing, 1997) and numerous articles and cases on new economy human resources policies, strategic alignment, and going to scale in the nonprofit sector.
He began his career at Bain & Company, working as a consultant until he left to pursue advanced degrees. He received his BA from Stanford University, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa, and his MA in sociology and PhD in organizational behavior from Harvard University.
