The Second Org Chart: For Sponsors, Mentors, and Architects
A Twelve-week cohort for people with real standing inside their institutions who want to use it well.
Every organization has a second org chart: the one that decides who actually advances. Black executives spend careers learning to read that structure from the outside, absorbing a cost that rarely shows up on anyone else's ledger. This cohort shows you what your Balck colleagues are navigating, and how to use your standing to open a door, make an introduction or say "This person is ready" and have it land.
Sponsors & Mentors
Designed for sponsors, mentors, and architects with real standing inside their institutions who wamt to use it well on behalf of their Black colleagues.
Fourteen seats. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis.
Earn 18 PDCs toward SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification.
Where this comes From
The Second Org Chart: The POWER Framework™ for Black Executive Leadership
Coming Soon Spring 2027
Frederick C. Jefferson III, MSOD, has spent twenty-five years coaching Black executives navigating predominantly white institutions. The book distills that work into the POWER Framework™: five concepts for reading power you were never shown. This cohort translates that framework for sponsors, mentors, and architects: people with the standing to act on what the book reveals.
The Second Org Chart is Invisible to you too.
The informal structure that decides who actually advances isn't visible to Black executives alone. It's just as invisible to the sponsors, mentors, and architects standing next to them because most people never need to learn to see it.
The difference is what not seeing costs. For a Black colleague, missing it can cost a promotion, a sponsor, a seat at the table. For you, missing it costs something smaller: the chance to use the standing you already have on someone else's behalf, and you may never even know it mattered.
The POWER Framework™
Each of the five concepts in the framework ends in a concrete deliverable, not something to reflect on and set aside. The first, Position, produces an Organizational Systems Map: a working document that shows who actually shapes a decision, who gets consulted before the meeting starts, and where you stand relative to both. In the cohort, you'll build that same map for your own institution. Then you'll use what it reveals to decide exactly where your standing can move something for someone else.
P: Position
Map the second org chart at your institution, and see where your Black colleagues are navigating without one.
O: Own
Take an honest inventory of what your seat gives you access to, and stop treating standing as something you merely occupy.
W: Wield
Turn your influence into a specific, bounded ask tied to real opportunity: an introduction, a recommendation, or “This person is ready.”
E: Elevate
Build mentorship and sponsorship access for people who wouldn’t otherwise have it, as infrastructure that reaches beyond a single relationship.
R: Reshape
Use your position to change the environment, so that respect and opportunity don’t depend on who happens to be paying attention.
This Program was built for you if...
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You have real standing inside your institution and want to use it well
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You want to help but don't know what that actually looks like in practice
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You've gone quiet because DEI became politically risky, and you're ready to move past that
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You're more interested in the real work than in a label
What you walk away with after 12 weeks
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A map of the second org chart inside your own institution, so you can see who actually shapes a decision and where your Black colleagues are navigating without one
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Sponsor clarity, knowing not just what someone accomplished but how, so you can hold the accurate story when an inaccurate one starts to circulate
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A specific bounded ask you're ready to make, not a vague offer to "be a sponsor," but concrete actions tied to real opportunity, built during the cohort
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An honest inventory of what your actual seat gives you access to, and a plan for using it instead of just occupying it
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A concrete way to build mentorship access for people who wouldn't otherwise have it, not a single relationship, but infrastructure that multiplies its reach
Earn 18 PDCs
SHRM-CP® and SHRM-SCP® holders who complete The Second Org Chart: Sponsors & Mentors, Master Class earn 18 Professional Development Credits (PDCs) toward recertification.
How it works
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Complete the all 12 live sessions. If you miss one, you can make it up live, either in a scheduled makeup session or one-on-one with Frederick.
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Receive a certificate of completion with your SHRM Activity ID.
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Log in to your SHRM Certification Portal, select Add PDCs, and enter the Activity ID.
Activity IDs are provided only to participants who complete the program.
Jefferson Associates Consulting is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
Cohort 1 - January 2027
Application deadline: December 15, 2026
Frederick responds by: Within 5 business days of submission
Payment Due: $2000 per participant, due in full within 7 days of acceptance
Payment accepted: Square invoice
Week One: Wednesday, January 13, 2027
Week Twelve (final session): Wednesday, March 31, 2027
Apply
Frederick reviews every application personally. There are no wrong answers, only honest ones
Complete the application below. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis through December 15, 2026, and Frederick responds within five business days.
Jefferson Associates Consulting is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.