This week I’m sharing a wonderful conversation with Josie Whittlesey, founder, and leader of Drama Club. Drama Club is one of those truly transformational organizations that when you learn what they do, and the real and lasting changes they bring about in the lives of young people, you feel inspired in the true sense of the word. Drama Club goes deep into the worlds and lives of young people in the NYC prison industrial complex. And uses drama and personal storytelling to unlock and nurture a co...
Aug 25, 2022•41 min
This week, I’m doing a quick strategy hit about something that is the underpinning of your growth - organizational playbooks. I want to make the case for taking the time to create standard operating procedures (SOPs) and an organizational playbook. As you grow, it’s important to begin to document what is working so that you can repeat the good and let go of the bad. In this episode, I walk through the what, the why, and the how of SOPs and organizational playbooks so that you can take action in ...
Aug 23, 2022•17 min
Today I’m showcasing the True Star Foundation, based in Chicago. It’s the brain child of an incredible duo - DeAnna Sherman and Na Tae Thompson. True Star Foundation’ brings young people deep into the world and business of media production, using media as a platform for giving young people a creative outlet, a belief that their voice matters, and a professional toolbox that can be leveraged their entire lives. Teens not only produce actual high-quality media, including two magazines, a tv show, ...
Aug 18, 2022•34 min
A gear shift moment is what I call that phase of your org when you’re between where you were and that next impact horizon for your organization. You’ve reached the end of one growth stage but you haven’t settled into another one. It’s like when you’re riding a bike and you shift gears -- everything feels just a little chaotic for a few moments before the new gear catches. Nonprofit growth is just like that. In each stage of growth, organizations hit a point where they can’t grow any further usin...
Aug 16, 2022•22 min
Today I talk about a fun cultivation activity that’s easy to pull together and can be done in the waning days of summer to set the stage for deeper engagement and activation this fall. What is this magical activity? It's called a Brain Trust. I t’s a stylized and facilitated gathering of experts and advisors that’s brought together to offer strategic guidance and advice in response to a specific organizational challenge or question. They’re a low-hanging fruit chance to bring together people who...
Aug 09, 2022•22 min
Untapped capacity can hide in plain sight. In this case, it’s in the form of our informal networks. The dozens - sometimes hundreds - of people that are floating around in your world that you know but aren’t connected to the organization in any structured or concrete way. These are people you’ve met at conferences, friends of board members with whom you’re loosely acquainted, people you sit on working groups with… This loose network is brimming with untapped capacity. The key is the concept of a...
Aug 02, 2022•27 min
The Architecture of Impact is the framework around which my teaching is organized. The basic idea is this: We talk about impact in so many ways, and ultimately, this impact is our organization's north star. It is what guides us programmatically and organizationally. If we’re doing it right, it serves as a foundation for our strategic vision, our fundraising, our hiring, who we partner with… There is a method to achieving that impact. There is an architecture behind the achievement of this impact...
Jul 26, 2022•22 min
Today I'm spotlighting an incredible, high-impact organization -- Global Health Council, a national organization that sits in a really unique intersection within the global health world. They don't just bring together stakeholders around and across specific health issues -- they address cross-cutting issues that really go to the core of strengthening and supporting all of the many individual issues in the space. They make sure the infrastructure, supportive policy, and resources are there to dri...
Jul 21, 2022•38 min
In today’s episode, I’m getting laser-focused on how to create the kind of systems that help you claw back your time. One of my secret obsessions has always been about how to best leverage systems to make work more efficient - what systems and tools can simplify my work, how I can move things off my plate to free up my time for bigger-picture thinking and planning… I know so many of you want the same thing - I know because it’s one of the most frequently addressed topics in my Accelerator progra...
Jul 12, 2022•35 min
This week, I’m talking with Jaana Rehnström, founder and leader of The Kota Alliance. At its core, Kota is about gender equity and women’s empowerment. They work both locally and globally to create synergies between organizations that serve and support women and girls. Jaana and I talk about how Kota was founded to elevate and expand capacity and impact -- there are so many organizations doing incredible work, and too often they simply don’t know about one another and don’t have the capacity to ...
Jul 07, 2022•19 min
Today I'm talking with Nita Baum, leadership coach, teacher, and founder of b-free, a collective of freelancers and consultants that work together to re-envision and re-create the Workplace as HealingSpace, where freedom, sustainability, and wellbeing happen for ALL people at and through work, not in spite of it. Nita has spent the past 20+ years stewarding complex organizations and teams through change and growth. Her first business was a strategy and organizational change consultancy to C-leve...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 18 min
I’m talking with Micaela, the founder, and ED of Moreart. Moreart exists to leverage community and harness the power of art to really address social issues. They bring artists into partnership with community members, organizations, and institutions - like courts and nonprofits, and community leaders - to create space for dialog. Micaela and I talk about the urgency of finding ways for people to work together across difference, about the power of a shared experience of artistic work to bring us t...
Jun 16, 2022•32 min
This is part two of my two-part mini-training series about thought leadership. Last week, I talked about the “why” -- Why it’s important to have a thought leadership plan, and how precisely thought leadership can move your organization's work forward. Today I’m going to lay out my framework for thought leadership planning. Specifically, the elements of a strong plan. I teach what I call the OATS framework: Objectives, Audiences, Topics, and Strategies. It's a simple yet effective framework for g...
Jun 14, 2022•32 min
This week, I’m talking with Jessoica Sloan, ED of RaisedByUs. RaisedByUs has a big hairy audacious goal - one that resonates deeply with me in its power and simplicity: To make the world a better, kinder and more just place. They are literally aiming to raise as many charitable dollars as possible for global causes by mobilizing the power of individual philanthropy. What’s super cool about their model is that they leverage the workplace - and workplace giving - to narrow the gap between wanting ...
Jun 08, 2022•34 min
I’m very excited about this episode because this is something that I’ve been thinking and talking a lot about recently. So often when we hear the term “thought leadership” and our mind goes fuzzy. The term is wonky and opaque and no one really ever says what it means or how to do it. But here’s the thing: having a strong thought leadership strategy is a critical aspect of growing and sustaining your budget and impact. So I’m doing a 2-parter about thought leadership. Today I’m going to dive into...
Jun 07, 2022•18 min
In today’s conversation, I’m talking with the co-leaders of an organization that I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for a number of years: Ragz Bruland and Michael Aryee of Flex Dance Program. Ragz and Michael founded Flex Dance as a response to the problem of mass incarceration. They wanted to tap into the expansiveness and movement of dance as a way to help young people especially see beyond a system that can sometimes feel stuck. Their organization - through programs and community partnerships ...
Jun 02, 2022•29 min
Let’s face it - numbers can be scary. As nonprofit leaders, how often do you hear how important it is to “know your numbers”? But most of you didn’t get into the nonprofit leadership game with a background in accounting. So instead, you make sure you have a bookkeeper, make sure your books get closed and you track your spending, and MAYBE you get monthly financial reports to review. But you’re secretly faking it until you make it -- you don’t really know what it means to build a strong financial...
May 31, 2022•44 min
This week’s conversation is with LaFrae Sci, a friend, colleague, and superstar in my Impact Accelerator! LaFrae is an accomplished musician, imaginationist, and Executive Director at Willie Mae Rock Camp, where she created the innovative and transformational Willie Mae Future Sounds STEAM-based curriculum. I’ve been excited to talk with LaFrae on the podcast for a number of reasons. First, I think that her story of stepping into the ED role at Willie Mae at a time of flux and stewarding the org...
May 19, 2022•46 min
I talk in my workshops and trainings, and in my Accelerator program, about how important it is to be intentional about building your organization's internal capacity if you want to grow in a way that is sustainable. By this I mean having the right people in the right roles within your ecosystem. But what does that look like in practice? In this short mini-training I talk about two principles to use when hiring in order to fuel and support your growth: hiring to give you more time for high-levera...
May 17, 2022•22 min
This week’s episode is very very special to me. It is a tribute to my sister, Darcy Richie, who passed away at the age of 40 in April of this year. Darcy Richie was the Chief Program and Impact Officer at Generation Citizen. Last Spring, I invited her to join me to talk about two of her many superpowers: the how and why of communication and team-building. I called Darcy the communication whisperer. She was one of those people who can be in any situation, with any group of people, and find her wa...
May 10, 2022•46 min
This week, I get to introduce and celebrate South Asian SOAR, an organization working to build a national movement to end gender-based violence in the South Asian diaspora. South Asian SOAR, led by Amrita Doshi, is helping to create a bridge between the urgent, incredibly necessary direct service, and systems-level change. SOAR’s mission and work are rooted in the idea that these types of work - downstream and upstream - must happen in parallel and must inform and build off of one another if we ...
Apr 21, 2022•30 min
This week, I’m thrilled to shine a light on an organization that is truly walking the walk when it comes to living its values. The New Harmony Project - led by Lori Wolter Hudson and David Hudson cares for and nurtures writers to give them the space, time, energy, and inspiration to create works that change our world by interrogating the complexities of hope. There’s a lot there -- what it means to care for and nurture writers, the role of hope in helping to forge a more just and equitable world...
Apr 14, 2022•40 min
I have so many conversations with organizational leaders about how social media strategy - especially when it comes to fundraising - can feel opaque - at best. At worst, it can feel like a time suck or even a waste of time - a misuse of limited capacity. The truth is, not getting smart and savvy about your digital footprint means that you’re leaving money on the table. And when we’re talking about fueling our social impact, we don’t want to leave money on the table. More importantly, it’s critic...
Apr 12, 2022•49 min
Welcome to our first Mastermind Spotlight! In this series, I’ll be showcasing and celebrating organizations in my Accelerator program - lifting up their mission, their work, and their personal stories of leadership. It means a lot to me to kick off this new part of the podcast by shining a light on a truly phenomenal organization - STEM From Dance, and a truly inspirational leader - Yamilee Tousaint-Beach. STEM From Dance works to get girls of color excited about STEM through dance by fusing STE...
Apr 07, 2022•31 min
Christal Cherry is a board whisperer, founder and CEO of The BoardPro, and a children’s book author! She is a nationally recognized nonprofit executive and professionally trained fundraiser - she’s spent the past 2 decades in the sector, raising millions of dollars and getting buy-in from multiple stakeholders for big missions and projects. Along the way, one thing that has always been part of her work - which is what she leans into now - is moving people to action. Christal has interfaced with,...
Apr 05, 2022•45 min
This week I’m talking with Lakimja Mattocks, Chief Equity and Learnig Officer at Non[profit NY, Fundraising Consultant at Cause Effective, and visionary, powerful leadership coach. This conversation has a different origin than some of the others on this podcast - I was inspired by a very specific event. Lakimja posted on LinkedIn about what she calls her personal board of directors. We talk a bunch about this in the conversation, so I won’t go too deeply into that here, but what I will say is th...
Mar 13, 2022•23 min
Recently, there’s been an increased focus - in earnest not just talk - on the importance of making sure that people who are most directly impacted by experiences and issues are an authentic and meaningful part of addressing those issues. There are so many ways to go about that, and one of the most powerful is actually also one of the simplest -- make sure that people have the information they need to participate in the process of advocating for themselves, to make informed and smart choices, and...
Mar 08, 2022•47 min
At its core, organizational design is about the intentional choices you make in designing your organization’s structure, culture, and processes. You can organize the building blocks in different ways to address different challenges, ask different questions, and position yourself for growth and stability in the future. The idea is that we don’t build our organizations at 30,000 feet. Instead, we design them by being intentional about what’s happening on the ground and then building up from there....
Mar 01, 2022•45 min
For this week’s episode, I reconnected with an old friend from graduate school, Adriana Dakin, and her business partner, Abigail Ahoude. I’ve been excited to talk with them about ImaginePod, the company that they co-founded to help social impact organizations and movements use cutting-edge marketing strategies and tactics to drive more impact. Anyone who does social impact work knows that in order to truly have impact - to bring about the change we wish to see in the world - we need to move in c...
Feb 22, 2022•50 min
Trish Tchume is the Director of Liberatory Leadership Practice at the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, and Ericka Stallings is the co-ED of the Leadership Learning Community. Together, they co-facilitate the Liberatory Leadership Project, which works to explore, define, and support approaches to leadership development and organizational capacity building that prefigure a world where all of us can thrive. In this wonderful conversation, Trish and Ericka talk about what it actually means to pract...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 2 min
