Leaving Well: nonprofit leadership guidance for workplace exits and transitions

This is Leaving Well, where we talk about the reality that People Leave™️ in nonprofits and the social impact sector. Through this podcast, you will receive expert insights on leadership exits and transitions, the benefits of interim leadership, and sustainable succession planning in nonprofits. Listen to learn transition strategies for executive director, CEO, and board of directors leadership during resignations, terminations, and unfortunate circumstances such as death.

91: Undoing the Language of Stakeholder with Austen Smith and Julie McFarland

Austen Smith (they/them) is a spirit-led creative with decades of community advocacy and organizing, program evaluation, intersectional qualitative analysis, and community participatory research. Their work addresses national housing disparities, racial inequity, disability justice, gender inclusivity, and the metaphysical impacts of racialized oppression. Currently, Austen is stewarding ImaginationDoulas, a spirit-led creative education program designed for racially and culturally marginalized artists. Learn more at www.imaginationdoulas.com. Austen's Website Austen's Instagram Check out the ImaginationDoulas Foundational Views Micro-Course, a free, six-week micro course designed for those who are ready to explore creativity as a spiritual discipline.    Julie McFarland was a housing and service provider within homelessness response systems before beginning technical assistance on a national level. Julie's work has focused on designing more person centered and streamlined systems, more effective service delivery, elevating and uplifting the voices of people closest to the solutions, and creating more equitable systems for people experiencing homelessness. Julie values partnership with people who challenge the status quo and existing power structures to shift to more equitable and inclusive approaches.   Quotes: "Stakeholder: The phrase is rooted in the act of driving stakes into a land which forcibly marks territory as one's own. And so using that casually in our work could unintentionally evoke the trauma of having someone's stake, possession, or even assuming some power we have that is not necessarily ours." - Naomi Hattaway   "The word carries such a violent connotation because words cast spells. They all of the history of that term. We're connecting to this foundational ideology that requires and necessitates colonialism. Bringing that energy into the field of consulting or the field of philanthropy inherently ties the money that is meant to incite liberatory realities for folks to this idea of stolen land and stolen property. It keeps us in a cycle when we continue to use specific words." - Austen Smith   "It feels like a responsibility, in particular as a white woman, that once I become aware of something like this that has such a violent history and violent roots, it is critical to make the pivot and not continue to perpetuate that harm through the use of language in itself." - Julie McFarland   "I would appreciate a resource of language, words, phrases, or terms that are aging out. That we could start the conversation of normalizing language being a living thing because this is so normal." - Austen Smith   "Everything comes back to relationship all the time. And if we are in deep, authentic relationship with people, this act of educating and offering an opportunity to shift, it typically goes so much better when that trust is already established." - Julie McFarland   To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.   This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.

11-25
46:26

90: Thaler Pekar on Capturing the Stories of an Organization

An award-winning expert on organizational storytelling, Thaler Pekar works with visionary leaders to build and sustain cultures of excellent communication – cultures in which people can effectively speak and listen to each other, and to their audiences. For 20 years, she and her team at Thaler Pekar & Partners have advised leaders on strengthening trust, alignment, and influence through speaking, listening, narrative, and story. Working across sectors, Thaler delivers her four trademarked communication processes; produces multiplatform media; and develops oral histories and story collections. Recognized by both the BBC and the Smithsonian Institution as one of the world's leading experts in applied narrative, Thaler has delivered keynote speeches on five continents to thousands of people. Her influential work on the ethics of working with story, participatory narrative, story elicitation, and persuasive communication is featured in seven books.   DOCUMENTARY: Lifting Up What Works®️: An Oral History of the First 22 Years of PolicyLink documentary BOOK: Lifting Up What Works®️: An Oral history of the First 22 Years of PolicyLink The Atlantic Philanthropies communications compilation of oral histories Thaler Pekar & Partners' Narrative Garden® "What Will Replace the Hero's Journey?" - SSIR essay   Quotes: "Things are constantly shifting our perspective, our wisdom's growing, and ideally the stories are polyphonic."   "A great leader, a great communicator, can tell a story that connects the past, the present and the future, and creates spaciousness for what comes next. It's sensical. Great storytelling is placemaking, meaning making, sensemaking, and it invites people to see themselves in the future that's being created."   "I don't think of legacy as what's left behind. I think of it as what is carried forward."   "One thing about legacy is the danger of a hero narrative and just shining the light on one person, when there are other people in the shadows. And in fact, you're creating those shadows if you're shining the light just on one person." To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.   This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.  

11-18
29:12

89: Teaching the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders How to Leave Well

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have choreography for the kick line—but not for the goodbye. In this episode, Naomi unpacks the Netflix docuseries and explores what it reveals about leadership transitions, legacy traps, and the danger of having no plan for "what's next." Whether you're leading a nonprofit or sitting on a board, you need to hear this breakdown. Learn about: Why "churn" is not the same as "transition" How legacy leaders without a succession plan risk collapse What it means to evaluate performance without care And how Leaving Well can help your organization do it differently Because glitter doesn't cover grief, and turnover without care is just change in sequins. If you're a nonprofit leader or board member, this is your call to rethink succession before it becomes a crisis.   Quotes: "The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders don't reckon with the human cost of shaping the team through extraction. Culture is constantly shifting and shaping the team dynamics every time someone leaves, even if it was the right decision." "The Leaving Well framework, the work that I do with nonprofits, asks, 'What does it look like if we offboard with grace, transparency, and care?' That question doesn't exist in the cheerleading and sports model, but it could." "Legacy without a succession plan is honestly nothing at all. It's not a true legacy." "My sweet spot is helping organizations name the unnameable and the scary stuff about departures before it explodes into narrative chaos."   To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.  This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.  

11-11
13:27

88: Katya Fels Smyth on Normalizing Endings

Katya Fels Smyth is an advocate / activist for shifting power and perspective so we all have a fair shot at wellbeing. She is the founder and CEO of the Full Frame Initiative, now in its final stages of winddown after more than 15 years of national social change work; and is the founder and former Executive Director of On The Rise, a 30 year-old community of and by women who are unhoused and who have not found community or support in traditional social services.  She's a mom, spouse, and a person to almost 20 animals who share a 25 acre farm, where the people grow and sell artisanal garlic and the animals live the good life.    Read Katya's essay   Find Katya: Full Frame Initiative LinkedIn Medium   Steward the Forest, Not Save Every Tree If We Care About Justice, We Must Care About Endings   Quotes: "We never have control over things. But what we can do is pay a lot of attention to relationships and energy more than control what others are going to do moving forward."   "Whether you are an individual leaving a relationship, or a board deciding to close an organization, or a funder deciding to end a funding relationship, the decision to leave is an expression of power."   "We remember endings. We remember the high and the low of our experience, whether it's a surgery, hospitalization experience, or a work experience. And we remember how it felt when it ended."   "Your legacy is as much about how you left people feeling and doing and equipped, and did you respect them enough to not walk out on them if you had the opportunity to stay with them and hand things over to them."   To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.    This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.

11-04
46:25

87: Nani Jansen Reventlow on Intentionally Funding Leadership Transitions

Nani Jansen Reventlow is an international human rights lawyer. She is the founder of Systemic Justice, an organisation that advocates for marginalised communities across Europe through strategic litigation. Previously, she founded the Digital Freedom Fund. Nani is the author of the book Radical Justice, a collection of nine essays on how to build a better world, published in Dutch in 2024 with an English edition coming in March 2026. Read Nani's essay   Find Nani: Website Instagram LinkedIn Radical Justice - book   Quotes: "If you trust someone to build an organization, why wouldn't you trust them to also make sure that that work can continue without them?"   "I want to set up the organization for further success because I invested in building it. I want it to thrive as I leave. That means not only looking after my 'legacy', but also making sure that the incoming executive director is set up for success and that there's sufficient space for them."   "There's not going to be a successful leadership transition if we lose the team along the way. So making sure that there's someone who's looking out for everyone and for the people who are not making themselves heard. Change is uncomfortable for us humans. There needs to be someone who's mindful of the different feelings and dynamics that come up."   To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.   This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.  

10-28
33:02

86: Kate Harris on Structural Change as a Tool for Social Change

It took 40 years but Kate finally figured out how to embrace change instead of run from it. After all, it's the only constant and there's some comfort in that. She loves all things salty - the ocean, margaritas, and even your saltiest board member. Kate can really get behind a lazy afternoon, a home improvement project, and teaching her dog useless tricks.    Quotes: "When we use scary words like merger or dissolution, or the way that we soften dissolution by talking about sunsetting and winding down, it sounds great, but the reframe is that all that is structural change."   "Your mission is important. Your vision is important. That's your destination. That's where you're going. Structure is the vehicle you're taking to get you there."   "Mergers are an excellent tool for getting an organization to inventory every single thing that they are about. You cannot leave any stone unturned. You don't get to do that in a structural change. And that's why I love it as a tool. Because even if at the end of the day we decide that these two organizations shouldn't merge, each organization is stronger for having gone through the process of exploring that potential collaboration. They understand their unique value better. They understand each other better and where they can collaborate."   "Mission resilience is how you actually make sure that even if the structure changes, even if the name changes, the whole reason we are here to do any of this is because of the people at the center that we care about. And we're not gonna leave anybody behind."   "My whole reason for doing this work is that structural change is a tool. It's a tool for social change. It's underutilized in the nonprofit sector. So I want to normalize this conversation." Find Kate: Website Merger Mondays case studies LinkedIn - Kate Harris LinkedIn - KHG Nonprofit Strategy     Sustained Collab     To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.   This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.  

10-21
32:39

85: Althea Seloover on Detoxing from Workaholism + Finding Congruence

Althea Seloover is a poet, a relational map-maker, a story teller, an advocate, an abolitionist, an investigator, an entrepreneur, a creative thinker, a hope holder, a griever, a dreamer, and a friend. She provides work in the realm of prisoner liberation, self-parenting & life history investigation work in the world. She lives in Eugene, Oregon with her fiancé, two cats & lots of books.  Find Althea: Website Instagram For over 18 months, Althea has been passing the collection plate for a Palestinian family taking refuge in Cairo, Egypt. If you'd like to contribute to these monthly efforts, you can donate here.   Quotes: When I make the decision to do things differently, whether that's by choice or the circumstances have changed, to stay with the humbling, and at times humiliating, learning process of 'I am out of my element, or I feel a little incompetent, or I don't know the answer right off the top of my head, or I don't know which direction to move in.' Really honoring those moments as opportunities to do exactly what I have had the joy and opportunity to do for others is important.   Grief creates anxiety. It creates these spaces, these little sinkholes, in the relational fabric of things.   The elements that nurture safety, in my experience, are a sense of agency, a sense of self and connection, an understanding of the environment, the connections between things.   The way that we're able to shift the way that our systems work, the way that we work, the way the norms of our culture is by doing what we believe should be happening. It's making small changes. It's embodying the values. To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.  This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.  

10-14
34:50

84: Astronomer Meets Coldplay

A CEO steps down after a viral scandal, and within 72 hours, a new interim leader is named. While the world focused on the drama, we're focusing on what really matters: how Astronomer's board pulled off one of the fastest leadership transitions we've seen. Nonprofit leaders: this is your wake-up call. In this episode, Naomi breaks down: Why internal leadership benches matter more than dream candidate lists Why speed is more important than perfection during a crisis How to craft crisis communications that inspire confidence (not chaos) Why your mission must stay front and center, even in moments of disruption Whether you're an Executive Director or on a nonprofit board, this is your playbook for succession readiness—before a crisis hits. Quotes: "Most nonprofit boards think that succession planning means having a dusty binder somewhere with outdated emergency contacts. But modern crises move at the speed of social media, not board meetings." "So my question for you is: who is on your current team that could run your organization tomorrow? Not perfectly, not permanently, but competently enough to maintain operations while you figure out the long term. If your answer is nobody, then that's your first succession planning priority." "You need to craft your messaging around leadership transition around these three points: number one, what happened? Keep it brief. Number two, what you're doing about it. Keep it concrete. And number three, how you're protecting the mission that's forward looking." "In a world where crises moves at internet speed, your succession planning better be just as fast."   To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.  This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.  

10-07
09:57

83: Lauren Andraski on the Best Ways to Bring Consultants into Your Organization

Lauren Andraski is a collaborative community builder who champions equitable communities in every area of her life - from launching a community of nonprofit consultants to starting a string quartet in her living room. As the founder of Consultants for Good, she has created a thriving network of over 1,100 nonprofit consultants across 6 continents.   Quotes: "We've found that capacity building usually takes at least three years to actually give organizations time to implement and start seeing evidence of that impact. Setting the clear expectation that just because we don't see it right away doesn't mean that nothing's happening, and we should stay the course on the things we're trying to implement."   "Consultants aren't often cheap, but they're an incredible investment if you're clear on where you actually want to start."   "When you're hiring a consultant, one of the benefits is that the consultant is not already on your team. They're not part of the power dynamics. They are not part of the culture—in a really positive way. I think sometimes it feels like they'll never understand us. But in fact, that can be really helpful."   Find Lauren: Consultants 4 Good  (Join the community!) C4G reports LinkedIn To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.   This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.  

09-30
32:25

82: Elizabeth DiAlto on Getting Fully Rooted into Who You Are

Known for her inclusive, humorous, and uniquely transformative approach to spirituality and the healing arts, Elizabeth DiAlto has been helping people tap into self love, healing, wholeness, and liberation since 2013. The Founder of the House of E, The School of Sacred Embodiment, and Wild Soul Movement™, Elizabeth's distinctive medicine weaves together mystical + erotic intelligence, sensual + embodied movement, and integrative healing + energy work. Her methods are a potent synthesis of various trainings as well as ancestral tools + practices from the mixed/multiple lineages of her Caribbean, Indigenous, and European heritages. From 2015-2024, Elizabeth hosted the beloved Embodied Podcast, currently co-hosts the Mystical Aunties Show, and is soon launching Heat & Honey with Louiza "Weeze" Doran. Elizabeth is the proud owner of one of the most contagious laughs around (if you know, you know!). In 2018 + 2019, she did stand-up comedy for fun, performing on stages in LA and NYC. Her favorite social activities are salsa dancing and karaoke. She loves driving her Mini Cooper, is the queen of parallel parking, and most recently, she's elated to be back in the "motherland"— NYC, where she lives in a cozy and light-filled Brooklyn studio.   Quotes: I always encourage people to think: what are you rooting into? We're much more easily swayed if we're not rooted. Someone could push you over if you're not rooted. Someone could bully you. When you're rooted in something, it's deep and there's practice and devotion to back it up.   When something might upset folks, you can acknowledge these things. One of the most inclusive practices out there is just acknowledgement.    Grief is an emotion that gets masked by other things. More socially acceptable things. Anger is often such a great mask for grief, because anger feels powerful. The reason people don't allow themselves to feel grief is because it feels weak. A lot of people associate grief or sadness or depression with weakness. It is not, it is so human. It's the most human thing.   In a world that is so inhumane and so dehumanizing, we have to ask how do we be human together? How do we honor the humanity? How do we rehumanize if we're constantly being dehumanized? Grief is one of the ways. Grief is the great tenderizer. It softens us in the places where we're hard. When you let yourself grieve, it's connective tissue to your own self, your own soul, your own ethics, morals, and values. Find Elizabeth: House of E Website Instagram YouTube   To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.   This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.  

09-23
33:03

81: Wellesley Michael on Amplifying the Work of Vice President Harris

Wellesley Michael has the sweetest little rescue pup Petunia, and they do everything possible together. Always looking for a new Lego set, she will forever be a theatre kid, and enjoys taking in D.C.'s vast theatre scene. Wellesley formed a passion for community organizing purely out of a search for hope, support, and community after the murder of George Floyd. She then got trapped in the world of politics by working on campaigns in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. In D.C., she has worked on digital communications in the U.S. House, Senate, and the Biden-Harris White House. Currently, Wellesley is building the first-ever Creator Program for Senate Democrats — connecting Senators with content creators and new media.   Quotes:  "It eases my anxiety a lot to know the finality of something, but that doesn't make it less difficult."   "My job was managing the VP comms accounts and I needed to make sure that the American public saw the total breadth of everything that Kamala Harris had done as Vice President that people didn't give her credit for or know about. A lot of the things that she did were not in the media."   "We knew the job was ending and there were different paths of what the ending would look like. No matter what happened, on January 20th, the Biden-Harris administration was over. It was just a matter of, would it be then the Harris-Walz administration moving in? But there were many waves of grief."   "The hardest part of any sort of high impact work that's really short is your life transitions so quickly to something different. And when you're so focused on the outcomes for someone else all day, it's hard to manage your self care. And even in the most basic sense of where am I getting food?" Find Wellesley: Instagram LinkedIn   To learn more about Leaving Well, visit https://www.naomihattaway.com/ To support the production of this podcast, peruse my Leaving Well Bookshop or buy me a coffee.   This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley.

09-16
33:33

80: Brooke Richie-Babbage on Strategic Planning

Brooke Richie-Babbage is a nonprofit growth strategist and social impact advisor. She is the founder and CEO of Bending Arc, a social impact strategy firm that supports the launch and sustainable growth of high-impact nonprofits, and the host of Nonprofit Mastermind Podcast. Brooke has spent the past 23 years working as a lawyer, nonprofit leader, and social entrepreneur. She has founded and led multiple successful organizations and initiatives, including the Resilience Advocacy Project (RAP), where she served as founder and Executive Director for 11 years, the Sterling Network NYC and the NetLab Initiative, both initiatives of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, where she served as Director of Network Initiatives for six years, and the Social Justice Accelerator (SJA), an initiative of the Urban Justice Center, where she has served as SJA Director since 2019.   She has been a visiting lecturer and featured speaker at numerous graduate and law schools, including Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and Fordham. She has presented papers at conferences around the country on social entrepreneurship, non-profit leadership, and community lawyering, and co-produced and hosted the City Watch radio show on WBAI.  She served as Secretary and then Chair of the Social Welfare Committee of the NYC Bar Association, as well as the Co-Chair of the Policy Action Committee of the citywide Welfare Reform Network, and an appointed member of both the Governor's statewide Child Care Policy Working Group and Mayor Bloomberg's Adolescent Fatherhood Advisory Council. She has served as a member or officer of several non-profit boards, including as Board Chair for the Community Resource Exchange, and most recently as an officer for the boards of the Urban Justice Center and Nonprofit New York.  Brooke received both her JD and MPP from Harvard and her BA from Yale. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.   Quotes: I think that there are two versions of your strategic plan. The internal serves as a roadmap for you and your team. It serves as a foundation for work planning, annual planning, next steps, and funding. Then there's an external version. That goes on your website. That is your vision. That is 'where are you taking this organization in the long term?'   There is no one way to do strategic planning. Release yourself from the tyranny of what strat planning is, and start with the question, 'what is the organizational set of goals?' The process can be whatever you want it to be.   Strategic planning is not a pre-structured thing. It is a set of conversations that ideally help you determine where you want to go and what you want your adventure to feel like for all the interested parties. To connect with Brooke: Brooke Richie-Babbage LinkedIn   ~   Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley

04-21
41:47

79: Shannon Curtis on Presence and Creating Joyful Community

Shannon Curtis has been a recording artist and songwriter for the last 27 years, and has carved out a unique, community-driven DIY music career with her husband and co-conspirator, Jamie Hill, for the last 19. Her new album — 80s kids, her first-ever covers album — is due out in April 2025, and was a great excuse for her to (re)acquire an Atari 2600. She lives in Tacoma, Washington, and is in love with The Mountain, just like any good inhabitant of the Puget Sound.   "When we were forced to pause, it was an opportunity to realize that maybe we had pushed and pulled and prodded and explored every corner that we could creatively in that medium in that setting." "I recognize that presence needs to be my goal. The idea of what is before me today to do. I don't need to take on all of the things all of the time. That's been something that I've really needed to focus on." "One of the most powerful tools that we can use to exist and resist, is to hold onto our joy. Our joy really is a refuge and when we create experiences of joy with each other, we create a place of safety for people who are feeling threatened." "Leaving well is being able to have the knowledge that I showed up before the leaving, that I showed up to the work, that I showed up to that part of my life with all of me in the best way that I could."   To connect with Shannon: Website Instagram Facebook Threads Mastodon ~ Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley  

04-07
37:48

78: Julie Fogh and Casey Erin Clark on Stepping Into and Out of a Role

Vital Voice Training is a communication consultancy out to revolutionize the conversation about good public speaking and leadership presence — from stressing out about your "ums and uhs" to working creatively at the intersection of you and your context. Since 2014, they've been bringing game-changing public speaking and communication training to individuals and organizations, specializing in building public speaking confidence, navigating difficult conversations, balancing authenticity and situational adaptivity, and bringing out their clients' own unique charisma. Co-founders Julie Fogh and Casey Erin Clark are experienced professional actors — their approach is grounded in theater and performance, neuroscience, somatics, socio-linguistics, and organizational psychology. Their clients are leaders in the finance, venture capital, law, and tech industries, world-changing entrepreneurs, and best-selling authors, as well as in-demand keynote speakers who regularly bring their ground-breaking ideas and perspectives to stages all over the world.  Casey Erin Clark is a voice, public speaking, and communication coach, performer, author, entrepreneur, podcast host, and leader in both the entertainment and business worlds. She is a fierce advocate for gender justice and spends her days speaking, teaching, and writing about the power of women's voices, while seizing fulfilling opportunities to perform on screen and stage. In 2014, Casey and Julie Fogh co-founded Vital Voice Training, a voice and speech coaching company on a mission to change the conversation about what leaders are "supposed" to sound like and empower everyone to own the power of their full vocal instrument and presence. Casey hails from the cornfields of southern Illinois (where she grew up singing with her family Von Trapp-style) and has a BFA in musical theater from Illinois Wesleyan University. She also coaches musical theater pros of all ages, is a member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA, performed at the 2013 Oscars with the Les Miserables movie cast, and sings with the Grammy-nominated and Tony-honored Broadway Inspirational Voices choir. Recommending romance novels and breakfast restaurants is her love language. Will perform the Lafayette speed rap from Hamilton on demand. Julie Fogh is a voice coach, podcast host, and interpersonal communications specialist who works with speakers and  leaders helping them navigate their individual tensions and blocks, revealing the personal power and unique and captivating humanity that exists in all of us. Through Vital Voice Training, Julie and her co-founder Casey Erin Clark blend the toolbox of the professional actor with their powerful frameworks for embracing one's authentic speaking voice to businesses, schools, and organizations all over the country including Thrive Capital, Facebook, Google, NASA and The Hartford. Julie was raised in Seattle and earned her BA in Theatre and Women Studies from University of Washington. She earned an MFA in acting from Northern Illinois University, a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum that engaged with the physical body, the emotional life, imagination, use of language, character construction, non-verbal communication and the truth of the moment. She has studied with  the Moscow Art Theatre and University of Copenhagen and has studied Meisner Technique with Kathryn Gately, Michael Chekhov Technique with Deborah Robertson, and Movement and Period Style with Lloyd Williamson. She loves YA novels, introverts,  and her very vocal  rescue cat, Ashland.   Read the MM Lafleur piece   Quotes: When we walk into a room, every time we go into a meeting, we are there for a purpose. We always communicate with a purpose in mind. So we need to give ourselves the agency to ask why am I here and what am I trying to accomplish?   Our mission from the beginning of this company has been to expand our ideas of what leadership looks and sounds like. We do that in part by showing up with more of who we are, even in spaces where that is risky and where that may not always pay off. But we do it strategically, we do it bravely, and we do it consistently so that other people can also do it.   Leaving Well is the ability to really figure out for yourself and for the people that you care about how to button this chapter, how to transition, how to move forward.    To connect with Vital Voices: Website Twitter Instagram Linkedin   To connect with Casey: Twitter Instagram LinkedIn   To connect with Julie LinkedIn   ~   Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley  

03-31
45:31

77: People Leave; A Podcast Style Keynote About Nonprofit Workplace Transitions

It's time to reimagine workplace transitions and the way we say goodbye. Here's the truth: People Leave. We leave towns and cities, and we leave relationships. We leave projects, volunteer opportunities, and appointed and elected seats. People leave jobs too, whether high powered roles and barely paid gigs.  Another truth is that organizations are exponentially terrible at preparing for and navigating workplace transitions.  The combination of people leaving and the reality that our workplaces are ill-equipped for those situations makes for perpetually bad exits. I've examined the way people leave, and through the Leaving Well framework, believe we can reimagine and create the art and practice of moving on from a place, thing, role, or job, with intention, purpose, and when possible – joy, and want to invite you into the conversation with this episode.   Main Quote:  Leaving Well is not just about avoiding dreaded PR nightmares, scheduling exit interviews, or scrambling to toggle off access to email accounts. It's so much more than the departure itself.  It's about the way we handle transitions, how we prioritize people, and how we ensure the ongoing health of our organization in the face of inevitable change.   Additional Quotes: Leaving Well benefits not only those departing, but also those staying behind. It mitigates the loss of productivity. It protects the bottom line of organizations and prevents knowledge attrition. It builds company loyalty and a positive workplace environment.   Creating a culture of leaving well does not sow seeds of restlessness. To connect with Naomi: Website LinkedIn ~ Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley  

03-24
17:02

76: Ingrid Kirst on Interim Executive Director Engagements and Leaving Well

Ingrid facilitates smooth leadership transitions for nonprofit organizations. Ingrid has built a consulting practice that focuses on strengthening nonprofit leadership, especially during transitions. Over the course of five interim executive director appointments, Ingrid has seen a variety of ways leaving well can be implemented.  She also offers executive search services and guides organizations to develop comprehensive succession plans that promote leaving well. Over the last twenty-five years, Ingrid has served in a wide variety of roles in nonprofit organizations. This includes eleven years as the executive director of a food system nonprofit, where she built the fledgling organization to be a community institution.   Main quote: There's a lot of great work being done but people are burning out because they're doing too much. If we can get organizations to work together, they can cut down on some of that and really improve their efficiencies.   ‌Additional Quotes: Leaving well is really being intentional in how you go, and not burning bridges, not taking a lot of knowledge with you that other people don't have. But really intentionally transferring that knowledge, those relationships, so that that work can continue. To connect with Ingrid: Website Facebook Linkedin Learn more about the Interim Executive Academy   ~   Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley  

03-17
22:26

75: Jennie Armstrong on Knowing When it's Time to Leave Elected Office

Jennie supports women who are ready to step into their legacy and maximize the impact they can have in the world. She has dedicated her life + career to building a more equitable world and supporting female founders and leaders at every stage of their journey.  🪩 At Wild Awake, she supports ambitious consultants who better the world through her signature program Consultant Catalyst, which centers on strengthening your systems and operations, elevating as a leader, and creating a magnetic brand + knockout website.  🪄 Delve is a mission-driven communications and creative agency that launches social good initiatives and works with nonprofits to make their work as impactful as possible.  🏛️ Outside of Wild Awake and Delve, Jennie is an elected state representative in Alaska, where she advocates for LGBTQ+ equality, paid family leave, mental health, and reducing violence against women, among other progressive issues. When not working, you can find her exploring Alaska with her family, cooking, reading a romance novel, or taking a course. She has lived, worked, and traveled across four continents + over 30 countries.   Main quote: I learned and grew so much from the experience of having people who don't know you make judgments about you, make threats against you, come to your home. And if anything, it helped me step into my highest self and feel more confident in who I am and operate even more closely to my North star. Because if every day I knew I was acting in that way, what people said about me meant so much less because I couldn't be shaken. I knew the place from which I was working. I knew the values that I hold.   ‌Additional Quotes: Honestly, I just got scared. And I'm sad to say that because I didn't want to be scared and I didn't want them to 'win'. But I just couldn't do it. If I didn't have kids, I would have just kept going. But I had my family to think about. Ultimately I just felt that it was going to erode me and age me in a way that was going to make me less effective.   To me, success is going to be when a single mom can run for office and be in the legislature. That takes support. It takes planning. It takes thinking.   Sometimes we have this thing where we want to look back. I think we need to just accept where we're at and then focus on what we're doing next because when we're holding on to the thing that we chose or didn't choose to leave, it's taking away from the things that you can be doing and building right now. To connect with Jennie: LinkedIn Wild Awake Creative Delve for Good ~ Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley  

03-10
29:56

74: Melanie Jones on the Importance of Having a Chief of Staff

Melanie is a 3x former Chief of Staff passionate about the profession, spreading awareness on how impactful it is, and helping others get into this career path. She's also a mom who loves watching her son grow (a 6'4 high school freshman - lots of growing going on). Her favorite way to spend an afternoon is reading a good book, when she has the time to do so.    Main quote: We're not just problem solvers, we're problem seekers. So we say 'what are the roadblocks coming up?' What are the risks that we might be running into? What are the gaps that we need to fill, what bridges are we going to cross in the future?' So the Chief of Staff seeks that out and then puts together a strategic plan for it. We're a blend of the strategic and the execution.   ‌Additional Quotes: Chiefs of staff come in and create processes, they improve procedures, create and implement policies, and then hand the work off to other people.   Having a strong Chief of Staff who can be the home base, helping with decision making, making sure all the projects are running on track and getting you out of the weeds means then you can use your bandwidth to really shine.   To register for the free Chief of Staff masterclass To check out the Chief of Staff training (with a special discount for podcast listeners!!): use code NAOMI for 24% off!   To connect with Melanie: Website LinkedIn Instagram The Case for a Chief of Staff - Harvard Business Review   ~   Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley  

03-03
24:49

73: Lisa Marshall on Workplace Management and Leaving Well

Lisa Marshall is founder and principal of Good Work Consulting, where she helps for-purpose professionals get to the strategic part of their to-do list.  She knows how it feels to be stuck fielding an endless list of to-dos that are urgent and important, but don't necessarily build capacity. And what it's like to daydream about the projects that would make things better (if there were only time to get to them). She specializes in project management, implementation support, and data visualization and reporting. The work that energizes her the most is connecting people and tools, so that (work) life becomes just a little more manageable. She lives in Dallas, TX with her husband and two dogs, Eleanor and Franklin.     Main quote: "If you can create an inflow of all of the tasks and all of the information that comes to you into the work management system that you're using, you will get so much more done. There will not be balls dropped. You'll be able to do more than you thought you could, and you'll be less stressed while you're doing it."   ‌Additional Quotes: "There's dashboards that nonprofits need and they fall into three buckets: executive, analytical, and public facing."   "For me, leaving well is about having a mindset or looking at things through the lens of what's the best that could happen? And that's for the person who's leaving. It's for the people who are staying. It's for the things that are yet to come. But what's the best that could happen?" To connect with Lisa: LinkedIn Good Work Resources Good Work Services   ~   Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well This podcast is produced by Sarah Hartley

02-24
23:50

72: Minda Harts on Trust in the Workplace and Workplace Transitions

Minda Harts is a celebrated author and influential speaker, best known for her bestsellers "The Memo," "Right Within," and the YA book "You Are More Than Magic." She is a respected voice in advancing women of color, self-advocacy, and restoring trust at work. Minda frequently speaks at major conferences and companies, including Nike, Google, Disney, Best Buy, Dreamforce, and the Aspen Ideas Festival. As an NYU assistant professor, Minda shapes future leaders and empowers professionals. Honored by LinkedIn as the #1 Top Voice for Equity in the Workplace in 2020 and by Business Insider as one of the top 100 People Transforming Business in 2022. Minda is currently working on a new book with Flatiron Books, focusing on the crucial topic of restoring trust in the workplace. Main quote: "Each and every one of us, our voices are our legacy. And the moment that we allow people to shut our voices down, even ourselves, then that's impeding upon our legacy."   ‌Additional Quotes: "When it comes to trust in the workplace, we don't necessarily put a high value stake on it. In our romantic and platonic relationships, trust is everything. So why wouldn't we want that same character trait inside the workplace with our colleagues, with our managers, with our leadership. Because you can't have equity in the workplace without trust."   "You belong in every room, but not every room deserves to have you."   "Leaving well is freedom. Definition wise it's one no longer feeling confined and I want us all to be free. I want us all to be able to experience our lives inside and outside the workplace, the way that we were created to experience them, which I feel is joy, peace and equity."   To purchase Minda's books: Talk To Me Nice: Amazon | Bookshop The Memo: Amazon | Bookshop Right Within: Amazon | Bookshop You Are More Than Magic: Amazon | Bookshop   To connect with Minda: Website Instagram LinkedIn   ~   Take the Transition Readiness assessment To learn more about Leaving Well  

02-17
21:22

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