The Change Lab
A space for changemakers navigating the messy, meaningful work of leading change. Here, you’ll find tools, stories, and strategies to help you create the conditions for real, lasting impact—starting with your team.
The Invisible Weight: Understanding Emotional Labor
Ever noticed that some of the most important work in your nonprofit doesn't show up on a task list? It's the emotional labor of keeping people connected, calm, and cared for—work that's essential yet chronically undervalued and unseen.
For many nonprofit leaders—especially women and people of color—this invisible labor isn't just occasional kindness, but a constant expectation that leads to burnout. When your cup is constantly filling others but no one fills yours, that's a slow burn toward exhaustion.
Org Design: Holiday Edition
Holidays with family can feel a lot like managing a team—quirks, unspoken expectations, and occasional chaos. This year, I’m borrowing tools from organizational design to bring more clarity and connection to the messiness. From setting an Essential Intent to creating Family Working Agreements, these simple strategies are helping me approach family time with intention, humor, and maybe even a little joy.
Retrospectives: A Practical Guide for Nonprofit Leaders
Pausing to reflect on key projects or timelines isn’t just for tech teams—nonprofits can benefit from this simple yet powerful practice too. Retrospectives provide a structured way to identify what’s working, what’s not, and how to improve. Whether you’re wrapping up a fundraising campaign, a grant cycle, or a quarterly plan, retrospectives can help your team enhance collaboration, align efforts, and amplify impact. This blog breaks down how to get started, tips for success, and why it’s okay to embrace the learning curve as you build this habit.
Your Team's New Superpower: The User Manual for Me
What if your team came with instructions? A "User Manual for Me" is a simple tool that helps teams connect faster, build trust, and embrace individuality. In this blog, I’ll share why these manuals are game-changers for social impact spaces, how to create one, and ways to adapt them for any team or collaboration.
Shadow Norms
Every workplace has a secret playbook, a set of unspoken rules that everyone seems to know—except the new hire. Maybe you’ve felt it: you show up in business casual, only to find the team rocking jeans and sneakers. That’s a shadow norm in action. These hidden cultural undercurrents shape how decisions get made, how inclusion happens (or doesn’t), and who truly has a voice. The challenge? Shadow norms aren’t in the handbook—but they’re everywhere. Decoding them can unlock trust, connection, and clarity in your organization.