What if the most powerful lesson of leadership isn’t taught in a seminar, but whispered between breaths of reflection? What if the path forward isn’t paved in bold declarations, but in quieter questions — the kind that disarm the default and ask, instead, “How’s your heart?”

This week, we close the chapter that was Season 10 of Mission Forward. And with it, we offer a mosaic — not of data or doctrine, but of moments. Diane’s reframing of curiosity. Mitch’s uncomfortable truths. Leonard’s candlelit resolve. Rob and Mariah’s pivot from righteousness to relationship. Nadine’s open-book approach to trust. Erica’s devotion to the sacred smallness of daily practice.

Beneath the jargon of strategy and the armor of professionalism lies a simple human truth: communication is an emotional transaction. This season, that transaction yielded six deposits of wisdom — all interest-bearing, if we’re bold enough to invest.

Let this be a lamplight flickering on your path — as a leader, as a communicator, as a human being. A chance to reflect on how we lead, how we relate, and the stories we choose to carry forward. Because leadership isn’t a title. It’s a practice. A practice of showing up. Of listening deeply. Of lighting candles when the power fails.

Season 10 has ended. The journey has not. We’ll see you this fall — for another season of listening, learning, and moving the mission forward.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

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What does it mean to lead with conviction in a time of crumbling certainties?

This week, Carrie sits down with Dr. Erica Brown, Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University and a scholar whose work resides at the intersection of ancient wisdom and modern workplace complexity. At first glance, this conversation seems to orbit around the familiar themes of leadership and purpose—but as with the best questions, the conversation keeps opening, folding in questions of identity, grief, joy, legacy, and resilience.

Erica’s latest book, Morning Has Broken: Faith After October 7th, blends the structure of spiritual meditation with the shock of collective trauma. Today, she offers a theory of leadership that begins not with bullet points or quarterly goals, but with the inner life. It’s about leading with a fully intact spiritual core, one that serves as a center of gravity that steadies you when your compass fails. And in a world where the compass seems to fail more often than not—politically, environmentally, interpersonally—her framework feels not only restorative but essential.

Together, they wrestle with one of the most slippery questions of the modern age: What is truth? Not in a postmodern, navel-gazing way—but practically. Tangibly. What truths do we inherit, and which do we pass on? How do we train ourselves to see the people in our offices, our communities, even our inboxes, not as roles but as souls? And what practices—tiny, daily, almost invisible—actually hold us together?

For anyone who has ever asked: am I doing enough—am I doing the right kind of enough—we encourage you to engage in this conversation. Through Erica’s deeply generous lens, we’re reminded that sometimes leadership is not about standing out but standing firm. It's not about clarity but conviction. It is not about knowing the answer but having the courage to ask a better question.

Links & Notes

• Learn more about Dr. Brown and her books

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

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SPONSOR: Looking for a 401k or investment partner that aligns with your company values?  Aspire Capital Advisors helps businesses build plans for the future that reflect their values. They take the time to understand your vision, put people first, and help create long-term growth strategies.   

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Earlier this week, I asked my colleagues at Mission Partners, “What song do you put on repeat when you need some calm, comfort, or renewed energy?”

The responses were fabulous and included everything from A to Z—literally, ABBA to The Zombies.

I collected the songs into a Spotify Playlist and shared it back with the team, with a simple request: Take 10 minutes today with this playlist. Sit on the ground or get out in the fresh air and find a song that speaks to you. Tune out the chaos of the world if just for a few minutes and let music do what it does best... 

Let the music ground you. Let it calm you. Let it meet you wherever you are.

Most importantly, let it be your good excuse for a break today.

Enjoy the Playlist

This short-form episode is part of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights directly to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

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SPONSOR: Looking for a 401k or investment partner that aligns with your company values?  Aspire Capital Advisors helps businesses build plans for the future that reflect their values. They take the time to understand your vision, put people first, and help create long-term growth strategies.   

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Imagine you’re running a nonprofit. You’ve got a mission that matters, a staff that believes in it, and a community that depends on you. And then, without warning, a key piece of funding evaporates. Not because of anything you did—or didn’t do—but because the world shifted, policy changed, or a budget line disappeared in Washington. The grant is gone, the plan is upended, and suddenly the future isn’t just uncertain—it’s fragile.

This week, Carrie welcomes back strategist and fundraising expert Nadine Gabai-Botero to sit with the discomfort of our shared reality. Together, they offer a framework, a way to think, respond, and lead in a moment where so many nonprofit leaders are quietly asking themselves: How do I move forward when I can barely hold ground?

Nadine shares stories from the field, insights from decades of advising nonprofit leaders, and practical tools for reframing your fundraising case—not just to reflect the urgency of the moment, but to invite donors in as collaborators. From building “resilience funds” to quietly rethinking the purpose of your gala, to using technology to remove friction from giving, Nadine offers a way forward that is both pragmatic and deeply humane.

Along the way, they challenge the idea that scarcity must lead to silence. They talk about the courage to be transparent when things aren’t perfect, about engaging lapsed donors as latent allies, and about why resilience isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a posture, a practice, and a way of holding steady in the storm.

Somewhere between budget cuts and hopeful pledges, between the noise of a turbulent news cycle and the stillness of a personal letter from a nonprofit director who’s never asked before, this episode becomes what so many leaders are craving: a companion in asking the hardest questions.

In the end, this is a conversation about values, vulnerability, and the belief that missions—when stewarded with clarity and courage—do more than survive hard times. They rise to meet them.

Links & Notes

• Focus Fundraising: 15 Years of Collaboration & Impact
• Connect with Nadine on LinkedIn

• (00:00) - The Impact on Non-profits

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SPONSOR: Looking for a 401k or investment partner that aligns with your company values?  Aspire Capital Advisors helps businesses build plans for the future that reflect their values. They take the time to understand your vision, put people first, and help create long-term growth strategies.   

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These days are hard, for all of us, in many different ways. The best we can do is hold the light we have up for others. Because I promise you this: when you hold your light up for others, you will also feel the benefit of its glow.

This short-form episode is part of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights directly to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

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SPONSOR: Looking for a 401k or investment partner that aligns with your company values?  Aspire Capital Advisors helps businesses build plans for the future that reflect their values. They take the time to understand your vision, put people first, and help create long-term growth strategies.   

Visit investwithaspire.com to book a free consultation today.

We love sharing good finds with you, our listeners. And today, we’re super excited to bring you this bonus episode from our friends at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, who have just launched their own podcast called Nonprofits Now—Leading Today. We want to give you a listen to their first episode, which features Tim Dixon, co-founder of More in Common, who joins our friend and colleague Stacey Palmer, to offer smart and research-based strategies that leaders like you can use to bridge divides in the workplace and in your community. So enjoy this special episode in which Stacey will ask Tim to walk listeners through his approach, and then meet us back here next week for an all-new episode of Mission Forward!

Tim Dixon, co-founder of More in Common, joins Chronicle CEO Stacy Palmer to offer research-based strategies leaders can use to bridge divides in the workplace and in their communities. More in Common helps political leaders and social-change movements strengthen their coalitions by including unlikely allies.

Bridging divides is top-of-mind for nonprofit leaders today. Nearly two-thirds of nonprofit executives say the nation’s divisions are making their jobs tougher, according to an exclusive Chronicle of Philanthropy survey.

Dixon shared solutions to overcome entrenched division. Among his key points:

• Coalitions of unlikely partners are a key to success.
• Leaders must manage divides within their organization — not ignore them.
• Focus on shared values to build consensus.

You can connect with Dixon on LinkedIn. And dig into More in Common’s research here.

Further Reading:

• “Born of Political Violence, This Group Helps Nonpr…” by Drew Lindsay
• “A Really Tough Job: Nonprofit CEOs Work to Make Th…” by Ben Gose
• “To Hell and Back: Polarization and the Nonprofit” by Ben Gose
• “A Polarization Expert on What Nonprofits Need to D…” by Chronicle Staff
• “‘It’s Hard to Hate Up Close’: Philanthropy, Polariz…” by Eden Stiffman
• “Leadership at the Crossroads” by George Anders

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

Let’s begin with a middle school stage play in Detroit. The lights are dim, the demerits are high, and a boy named Leonard has just been kicked off the production. Enter Miss Liggins, a teacher with a different script. She doesn’t erase the consequences—she rewrites the role. “You’ll be our stage manager,” she says. And with that, a seed is planted: that someone’s belief in you, especially when you don’t believe in yourself, can change everything.

This is how Leonard Burton’s story begins. But it’s hardly where it ends.

This week, Carrie Fox sits down with Leonard—now President and CEO of the Center for the Study of Social Policy—to trace the arc of a life lived in service to justice, from the east side of Detroit to the deserts of Saudi Arabia, from family hardship to national leadership. It’s a story that defies neat narrative structure. Because Leonard’s journey isn’t linear, it’s layered—built on memories, mentors, and moments of moral clarity that refuse to fade.

Leonard talks about the indignity of a two-tiered chemotherapy room—one for Medicaid patients, one for the privately insured. He recounts the sounds of Scud missiles in Desert Storm, and the sight of a paraplegic neighbor who gave him his first view of the world outside his block. He shares the transformative experience of sitting in a village in apartheid South Africa, watching democracy unfold not with slogans or soundbites, but with silence, patience, and consensus.

And through it all, he makes the case—not with urgency, but with gravity-that that justice is not an abstraction. It is food on the table. It is health care with dignity. It is family autonomy and the freedom to imagine a better future.

Now, as the leader of CSSP, Leonard is advancing a bold North Star strategy grounded in three pillars: health justice, economic justice, and family autonomy — all threaded through with racial justice. His is a call to hold fast when others are retreating, to keep the lights on when the grid is under attack.

Leonard’s message is clear: This is not the time to shrink. This is not the time to compromise on values in exchange for comfort. This is the time to light candles if the power fails, to widen the circle, and to remember — in the words of his mentor, Collins Ramusi — “Forward ever, backwards never.”

Links & Notes

• Learn more about the Center for the Study of Social Policy

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

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SPONSOR: Looking for a 401k or investment partner that aligns with your company values?  Aspire Capital Advisors helps businesses build plans for the future that reflect their values. They take the time to understand your vision, put people first, and help create long-term growth strategies.   

Visit investwithaspire.com to book a free consultation today.

There’s been a lot of talk in recent weeks about cutting costs, building efficiencies, and reducing wasteful spending. Some extreme examples of this are playing out in real-time in the U.S. Administration, with the true impact of those actions yet to be realized. Which brings me to an article featured last week in The Guardian. It’s a tale of some eager beavers and the power of listening to those closest to the problems we set out to solve.

Because no matter the industry or the discipline, whether you work on issues of healthcare or housing, problem-solving is best done when it involves those closest to the problem. And yes, sometimes, the best action is to simply get out of the “dam” way.

This short-form episode is part of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights directly to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

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SPONSOR: Looking for a 401k or investment partner that aligns with your company values?  Aspire Capital Advisors helps businesses build plans for the future that reflect their values. They take the time to understand your vision, put people first, and help create long-term growth strategies.   

Visit investwithaspire.com to book a free consultation today.

Two daughters. One orange. Conflict. Their mother, seeking peace, cuts it in half — a classic compromise. What mom doesn’t know? One wants the juice, the other the zest. Yet there they are: nobody gets what they need.

It’s a parable that is often told in conflict resolution circles. But in the hands of Mariah Levison — CEO and President of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution — it is an elegant metaphor for the missed opportunities that happen when we rush toward solutions without first understanding our problems.

This week, Carrie sits down with Mariah alongside Convergence’s founder and Senior Advisor, Robert J. Fersh. They are collaborators in mission and architects of a process that helps unlikely allies find common ground. Together, they’ve worked across some of the most polarized issues of our time: education, healthcare, criminal justice, and beyond.

Their approach isn’t about compromise. It’s about something more ambitious and, paradoxically, more human. It’s about convergence: the point where stories intersect, values overlap, and relationships begin to matter more than ideology.

They unpack how durable policy solutions emerge not from debate, but from curiosity. How listening — real, intentional, difficult listening — can transform even the most entrenched opponents into collaborators. And how the secret to solving today’s toughest challenges asks all of us to move away from righteousness, and toward relationship. After all, what divides us often pales in comparison to what we all want — fairness, belonging, safety, and dignity.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would take to really change the tone of a divided room—or a divided nation—we want this episode to leave you with more than hope. It will leave you with a blueprint.

Links & Notes

• Learn more about Convergence Center for Policy Resolution
• Explore the book: From Conflict to Convergence by Rob Fersh and Mariah Levison
• Read Mariah’s column on 10 Shared Beliefs Most Americans Hold

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

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SPONSOR: Looking for a 401k or investment partner that aligns with your company values?  Aspire Capital Advisors helps businesses build plans for the future that reflect their values. They take the time to understand your vision, put people first, and help create long-term growth strategies.   

Visit investwithaspire.com to book a free consultation today.

As my wise teacher Don Foley reminded me this week, learning to be brave isn’t just in what we say; it’s also in how we listen. It's in what we take to heart.

This short-form episode is part of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights directly to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward

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SPONSOR: Looking for a 401k or investment partner that aligns with your company values?  Aspire Capital Advisors helps businesses build plans for the future that reflect their values. They take the time to understand your vision, put people first, and help create long-term growth strategies.   

Visit investwithaspire.com to book a free consultation today.