Succession planning may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about nonprofit leadership development, but it should be. In this episode, I sit down with transition strategist Naomi Hattaway to explore what it really takes to ensure leadership continuity and why it's a core part of any learning and development strategy. With executive turnover on the rise and funding environments shifting, organizations can’t afford to leave leadership transitions to chance. Succession planning...
Jun 30, 2025•26 min•Ep. 140
If training alone isn't moving the needle, it’s time to bring coaching into the equation. In this episode, I share how nonprofit leaders can use three simple yet powerful coaching questions to drive behavior change and improve staff performance, without micromanaging. You’ll discover why traditional training isn’t always enough and how coaching can help build autonomy and accountability. These coaching questions are rooted in the Situation-Behavior-Impact framework for feedback and can be taught...
Jun 23, 2025•10 min•Ep. 139
Creating meaningful change through staff training and development in a nonprofit can feel overwhelming, especially when you're the only one driving it. In this episode, I talk with Jamie Bussey, Senior Director of Learning and Development at the National Audubon Society. Jamie joined Audubon as a team of one, inheriting a blank slate and a whole lot of opportunity. She shares how she used a needs assessment to guide her strategy, implemented scalable solutions like a learning management system a...
Jun 16, 2025•29 min
Improving staff accountability doesn’t always require a training program. In fact, some of the most effective strategies for nonprofit leadership development and team performance don’t involve training at all. In this episode of Learning for Good, I share three powerful non-training solutions to boost accountability, enhance team culture, and drive consistent performance across teams. Whether you're facing missed deadlines, inconsistent follow-through, or simply want to elevate your team’s effec...
Jun 09, 2025•9 min•Ep. 137
Are you curious about what a career in nonprofit Learning and Development looks like across different types of organizations? In this episode of Learning for Good, we explore the real-life journeys of two nonprofit L&D leaders - Eric Wu, formerly of Northwestern University, and Matt Tod of Plan International Canada. You’ll get an inside look at what Learning and Development roles actually look like in two very different nonprofit settings and honest advice if you’re looking to make the trans...
Jun 02, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 136
Employees spend 42% of their time collaborating with others. That’s almost half of their time. But are they any good at it? Or are there challenges around collaboration? And if there are challenges, what can we do about them? Most people would say collaboration is important for their work, but we're less likely to do it when it feels challenging. And when there's conflict, we're less likely to do it then, too. Can training help? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode. ▶️ How Training Can Im...
May 26, 2025•8 min•Ep. 135
What does it mean to be a good partner in Learning and Development? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode, but we’re doing it from the truest sense of the word partner . I think one of the biggest mistakes we make is that we focus on the actions we need to take to be a good partner. And while actions are important, I don't want a list of actions today. I want us to look at the attributes or the characteristics of being a good partner. ▶️ Being a Strategic Learning Partner & The Biggest...
May 19, 2025•9 min•Ep. 134
All too often, new managers have no training, peer group, or support. Then, when they fail or burnout, we say they weren’t management material. We can and we should do more to support new managers. When Cru, a faith-based nonprofit, faced this exact challenge, they decided to offer a coaching program to their emerging leaders. This coaching program would bring in business leaders from outside their organization and engage them as coaches, creating cross-sector support, cross-sector relationships...
May 12, 2025•36 min•Ep. 133
When we create learning solutions, what we really want is to create a new behavior or change behavior in some way. So, what does it take to create a new behavior? On this episode of Learning for Good, I’m sharing lessons from behavior change experts Charles Duhigg, James Clear, and BJ Fogg. Then, I’m going to take those behavior change lessons and translate them into workplace learning. ▶️ Translating Behavior Science into L&D Strategy: Lessons from Top Experts ▶️ Key Points: 00:58 The chall...
May 05, 2025•11 min•Ep. 132
Our world is constantly evolving, and because of that, our experiences across generations are different. Because our experiences are different, our perspectives are different, and because our perspectives are different, our actions are also different. All of those experiences, perspectives, and actions impact our workplaces, which is why L&D needs to get to know our audiences. In this episode, I've invited Kat Landa to talk to us about generational differences in the workplace. Kat is the se...
Apr 28, 2025•36 min•Ep. 131
I often get questions about working in nonprofit, so I launched Career Conversations - a series of LinkedIn Live conversations with people currently in nonprofit L&D roles. We are talking about their organizations, teams, and personal career journeys. Today, I’m bringing two of these conversations to you. We’re hearing from Nadra Dennis, the learning and talent development director at the Center for Employment Opportunities, and Dr. Jaimie Hoffman, the senior director of learning and develop...
Apr 21, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 130
Understanding your training audience may be the best thing you can do as an instructional designer. Yet, many of us have never been taught how to conduct a training needs analysis. On this episode of Learning for Good, I want to talk about what you should be learning about your audience. What do you actually need to know? Tune in to find out. ▶️ If You've Never Conducted a Training Needs Analysis, Listen to This ▶️ Key Points: 02:11 Understanding your training audience to intentionally design fo...
Apr 14, 2025•8 min•Ep. 129
In L&D, when we are approached with a training request, it's our job to do a little research for ourselves about training audience needs. Often, the time you have to do this research is limited. Your capacity and the capacity of your subject matter expert is limited, and you may not even feel like you have the expertise to do the analysis. So how can you validate the audience's needs with limited time, capacity, and expertise? On this episode, I’m sharing three ways you can identify training...
Apr 07, 2025•10 min•Ep. 128
The fear of failure impacts our learners’ ability to learn, so we need to help them move to a growth mindset. A growth mindset is a place where it's okay to try new things, fail, and continue to show up and be persistent even in the face of failure. For this episode, I've invited certified professional coach, consultant, and learning facilitator Kim Andrews to talk about the growth mindset. I want us to think about how we help our learners learn and strengthen nonprofit leadership. The growth mi...
Mar 31, 2025•31 min•Ep. 127
Do you take the time to intentionally reflect after a training project ends? Reflection is powerful and it's something we often do, but it's not something we often do with intentionality. That’s why on this episode of Learning for Good, I want to share the seven steps I follow each time I close out a training project and why they set you up for success later. This training project debrief is really a time of reflection. ▶️ How to Conduct a Training Project Debrief ▶️ Key Points: 00:58 The power ...
Mar 24, 2025•12 min•Ep. 126
If you are looking to transition to L&D, your experience matters! Volunteering can help you fill in the gaps. This is exactly what Dr. Ashley Dugger is here to talk about. Ashley engages volunteers in her organization to help increase the capacity of her team. It also gives those volunteers a chance to deepen their skills in instructional design. So whether you're a small L&D team looking to expand the capacity of your team by using volunteers, or if you're someone who's looking to trans...
Mar 17, 2025•34 min•Ep. 125
In this episode, I want to share my 4-step process to write better learning objectives. What do I mean by better? This is not a lesson on making them SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely) though that is important. This is about the actual process I go through when writing objectives. This thought process is what gets me to action-oriented, performance-related objectives that drive behavior change. ▶️ My 4-Step Process to Write Better Learning Objectives ▶️ Key Points: 02...
Mar 10, 2025•8 min•Ep. 124
Are your learners bored? So often our training audience attends training that isn't relevant or engaging, contains so much extra information they feel lost, or the included scenarios make no sense for them and their role. Context is one of the most important things in creating effective learning. That’s why in this episode, I want us to explore learner personas. What are they? Why are they important? And how do we build them? ▶️ Are Your Learners Bored? How Building a Learner Persona Can Help. ▶...
Mar 03, 2025•10 min•Ep. 123
What’s the value of an outside perspective? An outside perspective will help you be more consistent, improve your awareness and confidence, and accelerate your career because they can see the things you can't. This is true in all areas of life, including your career. That’s why on today’s episode, I'm talking to self-proclaimed nonprofit nerd, Jarrett Ransom, about how to create a personal board of directors to help you thrive in your career. Jarrett established her consulting firm in 2009 and u...
Feb 24, 2025•28 min•Ep. 122
A lot of what we do in Learning and Development is not life and death. We often have the freedom to experiment with new ideas in our nonprofit training and while we want the best possible outcome, we can feel safe to fail. This is not the case in every industry. In this episode I want us to take some time to learn from another industry - the aviation industry - with leadership development expert Craig Coyle. Craig is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and a former U.S. Army Apache pilot. ▶️...
Feb 17, 2025•25 min•Ep. 121
People managers have a hard job. They have to set goals, manage resources, support real humans who are not always easy to support, and keep everything moving on time and within budget so the organization can meet its goals. That’s why I’ve invited Kamaria Scott, an I/O psychologist focused on people manager development and enablement, to join me on this episode. She’s sharing how you can improve the health of your organization by investing in your people managers. ▶️ Enhancing Nonprofit Health v...
Feb 10, 2025•34 min•Ep. 120
We know the impact a good mentor can have. Yet, according to a Forbes article, only 37% of professionals have a mentor. This means there are still many people out there who aren't benefiting from this type of relationship. How do we know when to create a mentoring program? And if we look at the needs and determine we should create one, how do we create the buy-in we need for it? That’s what we’re exploring today with L&D expert, Neil Cunningham. ▶️ The Business Case for Mentoring - What's th...
Feb 03, 2025•20 min•Ep. 119
While work may never be the top place you feel belonging, it can be a place where you can be yourself, where you can feel safe, and where you can feel connected to your work and team. However, this doesn’t happen organically, we have to work to create a space like this. That’s why in this episode, leadership and mindset coach Abigail Finck is sharing the Belonging Blueprint - a tested method for creating connection among your teams. ▶️ The Belonging Blueprint: How to Create Connection among Your...
Jan 27, 2025•37 min•Ep. 118
Measuring behavior change and impact is hard in most organizations, but add the complexities of federated nonprofit organizations or membership associations, and it suddenly feels impossible. In this episode, I’m exploring why measuring behavior change and impact is so hard in these organizations and I’m sharing some creative ideas to measure them anyway. ▶️ How to Measure Behavior Change and Impact in a Federated Nonprofit or Membership Association ▶️ Key Points: 01:38 Why measuring behavior ch...
Jan 20, 2025•11 min•Ep. 117
Creating behavior change is no easy task. So when Rebecca Kelley of Waterford.org approached me about a change she wanted to facilitate in one of her teams, I knew we had a lot of work to do. Today’s episode is a case study of sorts - we're taking a closer look at how my team at Skill Masters Market partnered with Rebecca's team at Waterford to address their unique needs. Rebecca is a skilled executive and as Waterford's Executive Vice President of Advocacy, she is responsible for advancing Wate...
Jan 13, 2025•25 min•Ep. 116
I feel strongly that you don't need a formal education in adult learning to be a good instructional designer. But I do think instructional designers have to be open to learning new things. I’ve learned a lot over my 20 year career in Learning and Development and in this episode, I’m sharing three of my most valuable lessons. ▶️ I'm 20 Years into My Career. If You're New to L&D, Listen to This. ▶️ Key Points: 00:58 The education needed to be a good instructional designer 02:18 My Learning and...
Jan 06, 2025•14 min•Ep. 115
Boundaries, coping skills, conflict resolution, empathy, mental health, and self-care are skills we all need in life, and the nonprofit Un/Do Mindset is on a mission to make sure everyone has them. They're working to build a more resilient and compassionate society and I think we need more of that in the workplace too. That’s why I invited the founder and executive director, Erin Harris, to join me on this episode. She’s sharing how Un/Do Mindset is improving emotional intelligence through train...
Dec 30, 2024•31 min•Ep. 114
People with goals are 10 times more likely to succeed. That’s the kind of momentum I want as I head into 2025. I've worked with others to set goals for years. I've coached people through career transitions. And I've led project teams with a specific goal in mind so I know how important a goal can be. In this episode, I’m bringing you some recommendations for setting better goals so you can gain that momentum as you set out to achieve the things you want in 2025. ▶️ Setting Values-Based Goals for...
Dec 23, 2024•12 min•Ep. 113
The number one priority for HR leaders in 2025 is leader and manager development and yet, only 36% of organizations with leadership development programs think they work. Organizations are spending money and prioritizing leadership development but they aren't seeing the results. So what’s missing? New manager expert, Eric Girard is joining me on this episode to share two essential skills your people managers need, but probably don’t have. ▶️ Two Skills Your People Managers Need But Probably Don't...
Dec 16, 2024•20 min•Ep. 112
Stories help us learn and engage us on an emotional level. But one of the more challenging parts of using stories is finding the right visuals to go with them. That’s where AI comes in. I personally have not used AI to create visual stories, that’s why I invited Dr. Nicholas Leonard to be my guest. Nicholas’s passion is at the intersection of AI and learning and on this episode, he’s sharing how to use AI to create persuasive, visual stories in our training. ▶️ Using AI to Create Persuasive, Vis...
Dec 09, 2024•35 min•Ep. 111
