1. Spontaneous Leaders emerged to fill gaps in the institutionalized response to the COVID-19 crisis, and reported a need to help SLs get started, continue, and grow their efforts.
2. Spontaneous Leaders face significant challenges to getting started, maintaining motivation, and keeping momentum going forward.
3. Spontaneous Leader effectiveness is strongly correlated with their situational awareness
4. Many SL efforts are focused on “brokering the last mile,” and are instrumental in filling local gaps, providing intimate knowledge of and communications with community members in need.
5. Personal relationships and social networks are critical to a Spontaneous Leader’s success.
6. Without the legitimacy and credibility imparted by being part of an established organization, SLs may struggle to win trust and build community confidence in their intentions and ability to deliver.
7. Many Spontaneous Leaders eventually have need of professional advice or help, but may not recognize it, and often have difficulty in obtaining affordable services when they do.

1. There is a need for services to support Spontaneous Leaders in the midst of a crisis, and help good ideas become great grassroots efforts.
2. Finding and connecting with SLs to offer them support in the midst of a crisis poses a substantial challenge.
3. Services must be targeted and customizable to the needs and attentional resources of individual SLs.
4. Even simple encouragement and motivational advice offering moral support, courage, and basic guidance has the potential to inspire SLs to keep going, and prevent them from failing because of basic misconceptions.
5. SLs need to develop skills and knowledge needed to start and manage a grassroots effort even as they are doing it.
6. New social connections during a crisis may be key for SLs to gain access to needed information and resources.
7. Social connections established prior to a crisis may play a significant role in the likelihood of success.
8. By failing to recognize a need for professional support, or failing to secure needed professional services, SLs may jeopardize the success of their efforts or put themselves at personal risk.

1. CCL is on the right track, and should continue with its mission!
2. Rather than attempting to market services directly to SLs, it may be more effective to rely on local communities and response organizations for referrals to CCL’s materials and services.
3. CCL should leverage its training program to promote awareness of the value of Spontaneous Leaders and grassroots crisis efforts.
4. Offer clear, specific, and actionable materials and services, rather than generalized principles and generic services.
5. Structure access to materials and services to address specific questions and needs, rather than according to general topic areas.
6. Provide materials and services requiring varying levels of commitment.
7. Develop inspirational materials that foster appreciation of SLs, and offer SLs emotional encouragement.
8. Focus materials and services on fostering the skills and knowledge needed by SLs, prioritizing those that are not generally the focus of existing training programs.
9. Develop materials and services to help SLs understand the common journey of a grassroots crisis response — from ideation to stabilization.
10. Create opportunities for people to develop the confidence, skills, and mindsets that will enable them to establish new social connections quickly in a crisis.
11. Develop organizational values and practices of mediating social connections whenever possible.
12. Find ways of leveraging CCL connections to help individual SLs in an actual crisis, e.g., through personal introductions.
13. Support systematic means of providing SLs access to new social connections, e.g., through social platforms or automated brokering software.
14. Create opportunities for people to develop and strengthen their local social networks.
15. Develop organizational values and practices of valuing and strengthening social connections.
16. Leverage CCL activities to strengthen social connections among local response agencies, the communities they serve, and neighboring communities.
17. Develop materials and services to help SLs understand what kinds of professional support they might need, recognize when are likely to need it, and know how they might find it.
18. Support systematic means of providing SLs access to affordable professional services, e.g., through social platforms or automated brokering software.

Full report

Preliminary report-out