Our Mission & History

The Management Center (TMC) is working to advance justice and equity in the United States. Achieving this goal takes well-crafted strategies, winning over hearts and minds, and building power. It means transforming policies, systems, and structures that were never meant to serve our communities or planet. For managers and leaders, that also means a different approach to management. That’s where TMC comes in:

We help social justice leaders build and run equitable, sustainable, and results-driven organizations.

As the go-to resource on effective management for social justice and educational equity organizations, we’ve worked with more than a thousand organizations nationwide. We’ve also trained tens of thousands of individual managers on the practices that help organizations committed to racial equity and social justice deliver lasting results over time.

Founded by Jerry Hauser, Rebecca Epstein, and Peter Lewis in 2006 and currently led by Jakada Imani, our team has experience leading organizations and campaigns for immigrant rights and racial justice, educational equity, fair elections, LGBTQ rights, reproductive justice, and more—just like our clients.

We offer: intensive coaching services for executive directors and their senior leadership teams; management training courses that equip managers and leaders with skills, practices, and tools they can put to work immediately; and an array of curated resources on effective (equitable, sustainable, and results-driven) management. Read more about what we mean by “effective” in The Three Dimensions of Effective Management.

Since 2006, The Management Center has:

  • Shaped the management practices of more than 79,000 individual leaders
  • Helped more than 1,200 organizations get better results
  • Distributed more than 25,000 copies of our book Managing to Change the World

Our Core Values

We help social justice leaders build and run more equitable, sustainable, and results-driven organizations. To do this, in our internal and external work, we believe in:

  • Focusing on impact
  • Advancing racial justice through antiracist and equitable practices
  • Embracing learning and growth
  • Striving to excel in what we do
  • Being unusually helpful and supportive
  • Building connection, trust, and joy

Our Approach

Our clients regularly tell us, “You’re not what I thought consultants would be like.” We don’t write reports, speak in jargon, or maintain a polite distance. Instead, we’re hands-on, grounded in our clients’ worlds, and results-driven. Learn more about our approach.