Leadership
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What I’m Noticing in the Room Right Now
I work with leaders who are operating as the full infrastructure of their organizations. They are the emotional regulators. The fundraisers. The strategy leads. The culture carriers. And the stabilizers when everything is uncertain. They call it commitment. I call it…. over-functioning. Most nonprofit leaders are rescuing. And they’ve been trained to believe that rescuing…
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The Self-Governing Way Forward
Part 5 in the Sovereign Leadership Series There comes a moment in every leader’s journey when they stop asking, “Do I belong here?” and start declaring: “This is the room I choose.“ That shift changes everything. Earlier this year, I was invited to join a group of some of the finest coaching leaders in the world.My first…
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Belonging to Yourself First: Leading Without Needing to Be Liked
Part 4 in the Sovereign Leadership Series Approval is a hell of a drug. But sovereign leadership isn’t fueled by applause; it’s grounded in alignment. When your compass points to your core values, not other people’s opinions, you lead from power, not permission. Many leaders are conditioned to seek belonging through amenability. We become fluent in…
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Boundaries Are a Form of Love
Part 3 in the Sovereign Leadership Series Let’s stop pretending that abandoning ourselves is leadership. That over-functioning is noble. That saying yes to everything makes us stronger and a better leader. It doesn’t. It makes us disappear. I once worked in an organization that looked good on paper, but it was toxic at the core.…
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The Cost of Carrying Too Much: When Empathy Becomes Erosion
Part 2 in the Sovereign Leadership Series There was a season in my life where I was doing it all – and I mean all. I was responsible for raising not only my own salary, but also that of 100 employees. I had to ensure annual funds were raised to keep the lights on and lead a…
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Philanthropy Can’t Plug the Hole: It’s Time for Nonprofits to Get Real
Let’s be honest: Philanthropy alone is not going to save us. The federal government is pulling back. From USAID shutdowns and the looming threat to Medicaid, the safety net is unraveling. Nonprofit leaders are being handed the thread and told to weave miracles. They’re expected to do more with less, smile through it, and say thank…
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How to Overthrow the Government (of Business-as-Usual) and Keep Employees’ Soul Intact
Let’s be clear – I’m not actually talking about D.C. I’m talking about the tired, rigid, soul-sucking systems we’ve inherited inside our institutions. You know the ones: the bureaucratic B.S., the scarcity-thinking silos, the lip-service values slapped on a wall but ignored in every meeting. The kind of organizational “governments” that are terrified of transparency…
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Disruption with Dignity: Burn the Playbook, Keep the Soul
Just because a system has been around forever doesn’t mean it works. Hell, some of the most deeply entrenched systems in the nonprofit sector are the very ones quietly suffocating the people within them. And yet we keep duct-taping them together, praying the next grant cycle or strategic plan will magically fix a structure that…
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Why Living Your Vision, Mission & Values Is the Real Leadership Flex
Let’s be real: If your vision, mission, and values live on a shelf, in a binder, a brochure, or buried in the last strategic plan, you don’t have them. You have words. You have intentions. Maybe even a few bullet points you trot out during board meetings. But you don’t have a living, breathing compass that guides your leadership, and…
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The Power of No: A Burnout Antidote from My Old Days of Fundraising
Burnout: The Price of Never Saying No. Here’s the truth they don’t always teach you in the nonprofit hustle (or in any high-stakes, high-purpose work): Saying yes to everything means you’re saying no to yourself.
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Women Will Lead Us Forward: Innovating Nonprofits for a Changing World
Let’s be real – our sector is under pressure. Nonprofits are navigating burnout, funding uncertainty, managing political volatility, and dealing with deep systemic fractures, all while being expected to do more with less. Traditional philanthropy is shifting, public dollars are in flux, and old models of charity are failing the communities they claim to serve.…