The Inner Work of Asking (Part 2): Relationship to Mission
I remember sitting across from a couple who were poised to make a significant gift to the LGBTQ+ organization I was serving. Their child was queer. They had tremendous capacity and had already invested generously in organizations advancing LGBTQ+ rights.
Yet somehow, instead of talking about our work, I found myself talking about wilderness, the importance of children spending time outdoors, and Richard Louv's then-new book, Last Child in the Woods.
I did eventually make the ask, and they made a generous gift. By every outward measure, it was a successful donor visit.
But as I drove home, I couldn't shake the realization that the conversation which had come most naturally wasn't about the mission I represented. My heart had wandered somewhere else.
I still believed deeply in LGBTQ+ equality and justice. What had changed was where I felt most alive. I found myself increasingly drawn to conversations about connecting people with the natural world and protecting the places that had shaped my own life.
That meeting became one of the first clues that it was time for me to discern what was next. That experience taught me something I still believe today: fundraising is at its best when it flows from genuine conviction.
The Inner Work of Asking (Part 1): Our Relationship to Money
Fundraising often gets framed in terms of strategy, campaigns, donor pipelines, and metrics. Yes, those things matter. Yet the people who seem most effective and most sustained by the work over time are often those willing to engage at a deeper level.
Beneath the tactics, something quieter and more profound is unfolding.
Start Where You Are. Build from What is Working.
Many people I talk with feel stuck.
Work is frustrating. Energy is inconsistent. Next steps feel unclear and too challenging to attempt.
The Radical Act of Gratitude
We’re living very real, very human lives while experiencing intense collective local, national, and global trauma.*
Both things are true.
Grit vs. Stubbornness
They say the temperature may drop low enough tonight that sap can expand until some trees literally explode. People say, “It takes grit to live up Nort’,” and these days are what they have in mind.
Living up here, I understand the difference between a tenacity that energizes you—the grit—and a stubbornness that slowly wears you down.
Therapy vs. Coaching: A Helpful Distinction
In the simplest terms, therapy is a healing profession, and coaching is a planning and execution profession.
One Small Concrete Step
In July of 2023, my mom passed away quietly in her sleep, and my beloved, oldest brother Tony was dying of cancer.
I was bereft. And, deeply present. Every moment mattered.
I wanted to carry that sense of presence forward, even after the sharp edge of grief softened. So, I started by naming what I knew to be immutably true.
Tuning in to What’s True
After decades of nonprofit leadership, I took 100 days to practice what I've been cultivating all along: how to slow down and tune into what's true.
Now, I’m excited to share what I’ve learned about finding your unique signal amid all the noise as I embark on a new chapter as a life and leadership coach.