Netflix's Queer Eye just did something most nonprofits aren't so great at: they ended well. Their final season features five episodes—each concluding with a different cast member reflecting on their decade-long journey. They announced the ending six months in advance, which allowed them to leave from a position of strength instead of crisis response. Most nonprofits treat leadership departures as emergencies to manage, but the Queer Eye crew treated their ending as part of their legacy to...
17 days ago • 1 min read
(we're back with another long form email! If you want to skip straight to read the articles I'm discussing in this email, you can visit the articles section on our website) You're exhausted, I know. You're the only one who knows how the donor database works. Board members text you on weekends. Your team escalates every decision to you. You haven't taken a real vacation in three years. And everyone tells you how dedicated you are. How committed. How essential. But what they're not saying (but...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Below are some (just a few!) honest opinions that I hold on the topic of professional development, from my vantage point as a recovering nonprofit leader. Most professional development in the nonprofit sector is performative. We attend conferences, collect certificates, and check boxes while our organizations burn out the people doing the actual work. Real professional development isn't a workshop. It's creating space for leaders to admit what they don't know without fear of losing...
3 months ago • 1 min read
At 95 years old, Warren Buffett hands over Berkshire Hathaway's CEO role to Greg Abel tomorrow (January 1, 2026) after 60 years in the seat. Everyone's covering the obvious story: legendary investor retires, successor steps in, $1 trillion empire continues. But there are two details that every nonprofit board needs to understand: He announced this in May. For a December 31 retirement. It's not automatically good advice to still go into the office after you retire, and it also not always a...
3 months ago • 7 min read
Your ED just resigned. Or maybe they're planning to in six months. Either way, you need leadership coverage, and someone on your board just said, "Can't Susan from Finance just step up?" Maybe! This email will share some tips and knowledge so you're aware of how to actually choose between. If you'd rather read the full article, click here. Full-time Interim ED/CEOs Full-time interims are external hires who specialize in organizational transitions. They show up when leadership changes, mergers...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Misty Copeland almost disappeared quietly. After 25 years with American Ballet Theatre—with metal plates, torn ligaments, and constant pain—she was ready to fade away. No farewell gala. No public goodbye. Then Darren Walker intervened. Walker, the outgoing president of Ford Foundation, convinced her to make it public. "It feels like a launching pad," Copeland said after his encouragement. Then Walker did something even better: Ford Foundation became the lead underwriter for her October 22...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi! I want to tell you about something that happened last week that reinforced why I do this work the way I do (and how I accomplish my work as well). A client needed board training. Not the cookie-cutter, here's-your-binder-good-luck variety. Real training, as in: How do we run an annual review process for our executive director? We need to learn how to read financials without glazing over! What's our actual role in fundraising? How do we onboard new members so they don't spend a year...
4 months ago • 1 min read
You probably use the word "stakeholder" dozens of times a week. In proposals, meetings, strategic plans. It feels neutral, professional, standard. It's not. The term comes from literally driving stakes into land to claim it—to forcibly mark indigenous territory as someone else's property. Every time we use it casually in our sector, we're invoking the language of dispossession. I just released a podcast episode with Austen Smith and Julie McFarland diving into why this matters and what to do...
4 months ago • 1 min read
I recently published an article on board succession planning in Community Association Institute's Common Ground magazine's November/December edition. The article was written specifically for homeowners associations and community association boards—the volunteer leaders who govern neighborhoods, condos, and planned communities. But like so many other topics, there is nothing in that article for community association boards that departs from the advice I'd give to nonprofit board members. The...
4 months ago • 6 min read