Learning for Good | L&D Solutions and Leadership Development for Nonprofits

Providing off-the-shelf courses is a common approach to training and development. But one of the limitations is the lack of context which is often needed to make the training relevant and meaningful.
When I heard about Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston and how they were combining off-the-shelf courses with more contextualized learning, I knew I wanted to bring this case study to you.
Is it possible to combine off-the-shelf learning with tailored content? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode with Alberto Garcia, a rising L&D professional.

▶️ Developing Your People Managers with Off-the-Shelf Courses + Customized Conversations. An Inside Look at One Nonprofit's Approach with Alberto Garcia

▶️ Key Points:
02:59 Alberto’s career - from teaching high school history to human resource development
05:39 Learning and Development at Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston
08:39 Developing people managers with off-the-shelf training
10:29 Identifying the needs of your people managers
15:22 Tailoring off-the-shelf training to your people managers

Resources from this episode:
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective
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Connect with Alberto
LinkedIn: Alberto Garcia
Website: imgh.org

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Working with subject matter experts can be a great experience, but it can also be challenging. They don't always understand Learning and Development, they may have competing priorities that take them away from your project, and sometimes they think that they don't really need you.
That’s why, in this episode, I’m sharing how you can turn your subject matter expert into your biggest asset.  

▶️ Turn Your Subject Matter Expert into Your Biggest Asset with This Approach

▶️ Key Points:
00:58 The challenges of working with a subject matter expert in L&D
02:36 Navigating relationships with subject matter experts
03:42 3 Ways to make working with your subject matter experts a success

Resources from this episode:
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective
Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇
Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Is training a change project? My vote is almost always YES. Training is often either being used to drive a change or it's being offered as the result of a change.

Why does that matter?  

70% of organizational changes fail and L&D has a role to play in this. That’s why in this episode I’m exploring how we, as L&D, can use change management principles to improve the chances of success in training and organizational change.

▶️ How to Use Change Management Principles to Improve Training Project Success 

▶️ Key Points:
00:58 Training as a change project
02:52 Change management principles
03:58 Translating change management principles to L&D

Resources from this episode:
Take a look at my past episodes on individual and organizational change:

• Episode 104: You Need Social Influence to Achieve Behavior Change. Here's How to Create It. 
• Episode 84: Why Change Initiatives Fail? Should L&D Be Involved in Change Management?
• Episode 31: Staff Not Ready to Change? This One Practice Creates Buy-In for Staff Development

Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇
Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

Most people form a first impression in just a tenth of a second, and there’s no second chances. So, what is your nonprofit's first impression? When you hire a new staff person, what do they think or feel? It's worth asking the question, and it's worth investing in making that first impression a good one. 

That’s why, on today’s episode, I‘m sharing three practical ways you can improve your nonprofit's onboarding process and create a great first impression.

▶️ Three Practical Tips to Improve Your Nonprofit's Onboarding Process  

▶️ Key Points:
00:58 Creating a great first impression with your onboarding process
02:20 Why a good onboarding process is so important
02:58 Three tips to improve your nonprofit’s onboarding process

Resources from this episode:
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective
Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇
Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

50% of leaders will fail. Even those who were once successful often eventually fail. Leadership failure comes with significant cost. You have to recruit, hire, and onboard a new leader and employees may have left or stopped performing under the old leader. 

So why do leaders fail? And how can we in L&D support them so they don't? That’s what we’re exploring in this episode.

▶️ Want Better Leaders? Five Ways to Get Them.

▶️ Key Points:
00:58 Leadership failure
02:10 Why leaders fail
02:30 5 Things nonprofits can do to support their leaders’ success

Resources from this episode:
Well-being Episodes:
▶️ Episode 80: How to Add Well-Being to Your People Strategy
▶️ Episode 67: A Well-Being Approach to Leadership Development
▶️ Episode 38: Dealing with Corporate Burnout? One Easy Way to Manage Stress as a Nonprofit Leader with Jessie Pagliari
▶️ Episode 30: Why Well-Being Is The Secret Sauce to Change Management with Mandy Sharp Eizinger
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective
Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇
Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

70% of organizational changes fail. I feel strongly that almost every training project is a change project. So, how do we successfully facilitate change?  

One essential element is social influence. 

We have to create the environment and the relationships to help our audience create and sustain the change. But how do we do that? I'm sharing five ways to use social influence to facilitate behavior change in this episode.

▶️ You Need Social Influence to Achieve Behavior Change. Here's How to Create It. 

▶️ Key Points:
00:58 Why most changes fail
03:00 Getting clear on the change you are trying to make
04:09 5 Ways to use social influence to facilitate behavior change

Resources from this episode:

Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇

Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Heather

Linkedin: Heather Burright

Website: skillmastersmarket.com

Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

I often hear from nonprofit L&D leaders about the challenges they face with constrained budgets. And I feel their pain. I know so many of you are working with small teams and few resources. But leadership development activities don’t have to be expensive and you don’t have to let a constrained budget keep you from developing your leaders.

That’s why, on this episode, I’m sharing five low to no cost ideas for leadership development.

▶️ Five Low Cost Leadership Development Activities

▶️ Key Points:
00:58 The cycle of learning
03:16 Training on a budget
05:16 Five easy low to no cost leadership development activities

Resources from this episode:
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇
Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

You spend months working hard on a training only to launch it and hear crickets. If you can't mandate people take that training, what do you do?

This is where marketing comes in.

Marketing is a pretty different skill set than what most L&D teams have. And your marketing team may not have the capacity to support you with each new training.  That’s why nonprofit L&D teams need email marketing.

That’s what we’re exploring in this episode with marketing expert Julie Nichols.

▶️ Your L&D Team Needs Email Marketing. Expert Julie Nichols Shares Where to Start.

▶️ Key Points:
00:58 Why L&D teams need email marketing
07:20 The value of email marketing for L&D
10:53 How your L&D team can get started with email marketing
15:21 How to impact your target audience
18:29 Email marketing resources for L&D teams

Resources from this episode:

The marketing resources Julie recommends:

• Liz Wilcox’s email marketing membership
• Amy Porterfield
• The Lead Magnets Podcast
• The HubSpot Academy
• Julie’s Brand Strategy Online Course

Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇
Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Julie
Linkedin: Julie Nichols
Website: julienicholsmarketing.com

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

I see a lot of L&D job descriptions and they usually include things like communication skills, project management skills, knowledge of learning design principles, and more. And while these are skills that you certainly do use as an L&D pro, what actually helps you hit the ground running?

In this episode, I’m sharing three not-so-obvious skills or characteristics that actually make people successful in L&D roles.

▶️ Hiring in L&D? Three Things to Look for in Your Next Job Candidate

▶️ Key Points:
02:25 Typical L&D job descriptions
03:15 Three characteristics that make people successful in L&D roles
08:23 How to discover these characteristics in the interview process

Resources from this episode:
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇
Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

On today’s episode, I want us to look to the future of L&D. 

However, I don't only want to talk about the future of L&D from an L&D lens; I want us to be holistic and well-rounded and hear from a diversity of perspectives. That’s why I’ve invited some of my favorite L&D and L&D adjacent thought leaders to join me to talk about what they hope for the future of L&D. 

We’re sharing valuable insights, actionable strategies, and innovative ideas for the future of workplace learning.

▶️ 5 Experts Weigh In on the Future of L&D 

▶️ Key Points:
10:53 Using technology and AI to optimize L&D workflows and personalize the learning experience
17:47 How L&D will grow as Gen Z and Gen Alpha continue to come into the workforce
24:06 Becoming a strategic partner 
25:20 Making learning more inclusive
27:04 Personalized coaching with context
28:38 The importance of having a learning leader in the C suite
30:03 Well-being as a competency, not just a buzzword
35:17 Focusing on behavior change in community with each other

Resources from this episode:
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review! 👇👇👇
Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends. 🔗

Connect with Today’s Guests
Kim Davis: LinkedIn
Chloe Chen: LinkedIn
Dave Allman: LinkedIn
Darren McKee: LinkedIn
Lotus Buckner: LinkedIn

Connect with Heather
Linkedin: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms