Effective leadership at all levels of an organization has never been more critical than it is today. The human and social services sector is resource strained in many ways but the need to sustain staff morale and productivity is still essential.

A team-based approach to leadership development is one of the most effective ways to build capability across an organization. Instead of independently focusing on sill building, this approach develops leadership collectively, which accelerates collaboration, culture change, and improved performance.

Some of the benefits of team-based leadership development include:

• Shared Language & Alignment: Learning together reduces miscommunication, establishes new norms, improves decision-making, and improves strategy.
• Stronger Trust & Psychological Safety: Colleagues can build relationships, test new approaches, and exchange feedback in supportive environments.
• Sustained Behavior Change through Shared Accountability: Peer-driven reinforcement increases the likelihood that new behaviors become long-term habits.
• Systems Thinking: Individuals move from siloed priorities to organization-wide goals.
• Rapid Application: With a group of staff, it’s easier to troubleshoot barriers and creatively implement solutions.
• Development of Collective Leadership Capacity: Equal development opportunities prepare organizations for succession planning and enhance adaptability during change.

Organizations should consider team-based leadership for various groups, including cross-functional leaders, emerging leaders, and new supervisors.

On-Demand Virtual Training and Consultation Through Social Current

Enrolling staff in on-demand virtual training through Social Current allows you to gain the benefits of team-based leadership development and accommodate differing schedules. These asynchronous trainings feature eight hours of content that can be completed anytime within a year of enrollment. Each tackles a timely topic with research-backed strategies.

To further support teams of two or more that enroll in these courses, Social Current will provide one hour of free consultation. This facilitation will assist your team in debriefing from the training—crystalizing lessons learned, prioritizing applications and next steps, and ensuring accountability.

Burning Bright: The Resilience Advantage

This course guides you through a practical, scientific, and reflective approach to regularly recharging and consistently bringing your best self—at home, at work, and your community.

Innovation Leadership

This course introduces core concepts from design thinking to help leaders use real business issues to frame problems, design experiments (projects), make decisions, and learn from mistakes. You’ll explore what innovation is and is not, what can impact innovation, and how to mitigate innovation challenges.

Managing Virtual and Hybrid Teams

Working remotely has its advantages; it can also be challenging. This course is designed to help you develop a new mindset, skillset, and toolkit to handle more complexity and ambiguity associated with navigating the virtual landscape with greater effectiveness.

These trainings were developed by The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)®, a top-ranked, global, nonprofit provider of leadership development.

Log in to the Social Current Learning Community with your hub/COA Accreditation portal credentials or create a new account to get started.

The social sector is built on values of empathy, trust, and shared advocacy. Additionally, the ability to navigate complex human dynamics and sustain interpersonal relationships can take service delivery and workplace dynamics from transactional to transformative.  

However, face-to-face conversations are increasingly replaced with asynchronous communication, like email, and we are juggling ever-increasing workloads. This can leave us feeling like our interpersonal “connective tissue” is fraying. While technology can facilitate communication, it can also erode our active listening skills, which are essential for building relationships. Because reclaiming these interpersonal skills is necessary for achieving our goals and creating an impact, it is the focus of this month’s recommended reads. 

To help develop your interpersonal communication skills, Social Current’s Knowledge and Insights Center (KIC) recommends these books. Through KIC access, organizations can easily gain insights from top resources: 

• Business Books Summaries: Featuring book briefs that convey key concepts in 10 pages or less 
• Learning Community Courses: Interactive, self-paced courses to develop essential skills 

Staff at Social Current Impact Partners and organizations that have achieved private, Canadian, and public COA Accreditation should log in to access these resources. 

KIC access can be purchased individually or as a benefit of an Impact Partnership or COA Accreditation. 

Business Book Summaries  

Conversations Worth Having – Jackie Stavros & Cheri Torres  

Conversations Worth Having introduces professionals to the transformative power of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) – a strengths-based approach to communication that shifts the focus from fixing problems to fueling possibilities. Through engaging real-world stories and evidence-based techniques, authors Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres reveal how the two simple practices of positive framing and generative questions can fundamentally change the trajectory of any interaction. The strategic communication tools in this book will help you unlock creative thinking in your team and ensure that every meeting and one-on-one becomes a “conversation worth having.” 

Access the business book summary. 

In the Moment – Niel Mullarkey 

In a world of rigid scripts and endless slide decks, the most effective professionals are those who can think on their feet. In the Moment draws on the principles of improvisational theater to help you navigate the unpredictability of the modern workplace communications with poise and agility. In the Moment helps you strengthen your professional relationships through active listening, adopting a “Yes, and…” mindset, and replacing defensive communication with a collaborative approach. Stop over-preparing and start engaging! Turn every meeting and conversation into an opportunity to lead with confidence and creativity. 

Access the business book summary. 

Communicate with Courage – Michelle D. Gladieux  

In Communicate with Courage, executive coach Michelle Gladieux identifies the four hidden challenges that quietly sabotage our professional potential: 1) Avoiding risk, 2) Needing to be right, 3) Shielding ourselves from feedback, and 4) Settling for “good enough.” By confronting these psychological barriers, you can transition from safe, scripted interactions to brave, intentional dialogue. Gladieux’s strategies will help you strengthen your interpersonal bonds through radical self-awareness and engaging in healthy conflict to build interpersonal connections that last.  

Access the business book summary. 

Learning Community Courses 

If you prefer a more interactive format, take one of Social Current’s on-demand courses. Through the self-paced, multimedia learning platform, you’ll gain a deep understanding of the key concepts and practices of effective interpersonal communication. 

For human services CEOs, preparing for board meetings can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. Leadership teams often spend significant time preparing presentations when they could be working on other important projects. Additionally, the board meetings themselves can be taxing, rather than collaborative, productive, and energizing.

This guide from Zeck examines the challenges that CEOs and board members face in preparing for and conducting board meetings and provides five critical elements that CEOs must address to transform ensure board meetings are engaging, collaborative, and highly valuable.

The recommendations include:

1. It all starts with the board materials and the pre-read. They have to be focused, organized, and engaging.
2. The value of pre-meeting communication cannot be understated.
3. Set the stage to be collaborative and productive.
4. Always include at least one ‘deep dive’ conversation and be honest about where you need help.
5. Ensure transparency by looping in your operating team about the board meeting and the board’s feedback.

Dig into these five recommendations by reading the full guide.

Webinar on the Future of Social Sector Governance

The Future of Social Sector Governance: A Conversation with Edward Norton
May 14 from 2-3 p.m. ET
Register now to join Jody Levison-Johnson, president and CEO of Social Current, in conversation with Edward Norton, Zeck co-founder and chief strategy officer and award-winning actor, for a candid, forward-looking discussion on the future of governance. They’ll explore how to evolve your board to be collaborative, strategic, and entrepreneurial, rather than focused on compliance and operations.

Visit the Zeck website to learn more about the cloud-based software platform and how it is transforming the board meeting and driving better decision making.

Women make up the majority of the nonprofit workforce. They lead community-based organizations, manage human services systems, steward philanthropic initiatives, and anchor institutions that hold communities together. Women of color, in particular, are disproportionately represented in frontline and mid-level roles that require strategic decision-making, operational discipline, and sustained community trust.

Yet access to executive coaching and advanced leadership development has not kept pace with that responsibility.

At a time when the social sector contributes $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy and supports 14 million jobs, leadership capacity should be understood as infrastructure, not an optional benefit. The Five & Rising campaign, led by Social Current, is helping to elevate understanding of the sector as economic infrastructure. Strengthening leadership within the sector is therefore a matter of economic strategy and institutional stability.

Philanthropy often invests in programs, innovation pilots, and scaling models. Less frequently does it invest with equal rigor in the leaders responsible for navigating complexity, managing risk, and sustaining performance across volatile funding environments.

Research consistently shows that women leaders bring strengths particularly relevant to the social sector’s current moment: collaborative leadership styles, adaptive decision-making, and the ability to integrate multiple stakeholder perspectives into strategy. In organizations that rely on coalition-building and cross-sector partnership, these capacities are directly tied to effectiveness.

At the same time, national research from McKinsey and LeanIn.Org continues to document that women, and especially women of color, face higher performance standards, fewer sponsorship pathways, and greater scrutiny in leadership roles. Many assume executive responsibility without access to the kind of structured coaching and peer networks that accelerate long-term success.

The implications for the sector are practical, not symbolic. Nonprofits are navigating workforce shortages, political polarization, and increasing demand for services. Executive turnover remains a persistent risk, particularly in community-based organizations operating on thin margins. Leadership fatigue and isolation compound that risk.

Executive coaching is one of the most underutilized tools philanthropy can deploy to mitigate those vulnerabilities. High-quality coaching strengthens judgment, improves decision-making under pressure, clarifies strategic priorities, and reduces the isolation that often accompanies executive roles. It supports succession planning and organizational resilience in ways that are difficult to quantify but is highly consequential.

One data point often cited in leadership research is that 94% of women in C-suite roles participated in competitive athletics. Competitive sports cultivate habits that translate to executive leadership: operating under scrutiny, adjusting strategy in real time, receiving feedback publicly, and sustaining focus when outcomes matter. Structured coaching builds similar competencies in professional environments, particularly for leaders navigating high-stakes roles without historical precedent or established sponsorship networks.

For women of color in the social sector, the need is amplified. They often carry disproportionate responsibility for community engagement and cultural fluency while simultaneously confronting systemic bias. Leadership development that acknowledges these realities and provides structured support is management and performance strategy.

Philanthropy is increasingly recognizing the importance of unrestricted funding, full-cost coverage, and long-term capital commitments. Leadership development belongs in that same category of strategic investment. Organizations are only as durable as the leaders guiding them. When women leaders have access to rigorous coaching, peer learning, and sponsorship, organizations demonstrate stronger retention, clearer succession pathways, and more consistent execution against mission.

Women’s History Month offers an opportunity not just to celebrate leadership, but to examine where capital flows. If philanthropy believes the social sector is essential infrastructure for stronger communities, then investing in the leadership of the women who power it should be treated as a core funding strategy.

The next generation of sector leadership development must be designed with intention. It should account for the scrutiny women leaders face, create structured space for reflection and peer exchange, and ensure that women of color have access to high-level coaching that expands influence rather than leaving them to navigate complexity alone.

The leaders are already here. The question for philanthropy is whether investment practices will evolve to match the scale of responsibility these women are already carrying.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the social sector has undergone a significant shift in how it views and utilizes remote work. According to the latest data, over 50% of “digitally capable” nonprofit roles are now remote or hybrid.  

Organizations are leaning into this model for several strategic reasons: 

• Attracting and retaining top talent: Roughly 85% of nonprofit job seekers now prioritize remote work over salary or even mission alignment.  
• Filling critical workforce shortages: By hiring remote workers, nonprofits can recruit nationwide, or even globally, to find specialized candidates. 
• Operational efficiency and cost lowering: Reduced overhead costs related to physical office space and utilities are a key benefit of a remote workforce. 

As remote work becomes commonplace in our sector, success in this new landscape requires leaders to embrace the intentional habits and unique soft skills.  

To help you develop best practices in virtual, hybrid, and remote workforce management, Social Current’s Knowledge and Insights Center (KIC) recommends these books. Through their KIC access, Impact Partners can easily gain insights from top resources: 

• Business Books Summaries: Featuring book briefs that convey key concepts in 10 pages or less 
• Learning Community Courses: Interactive, self-paced courses to develop essential skills 

Staff at Social Current Impact Partners should log in to access these resources. 

KIC access can be purchased alone or as part of an Impact Partnership. 

Business Book Summaries  

Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus – Ali Greene & Tamara Sanderson 

To master the intentional approach required for leading hybrid and remote teams, Remote Works by Ali Greene and Tamara Sanderson is your essential playbook. The authors provide a practical roadmap for managing distributed teams with fewer meetings and less digital frustration. The book moves beyond basic troubleshooting to help leaders establish clear team norms and outcome-oriented workflows. By focusing on “freedom, flexibility, and focus,” Greene and Sanderson empower nonprofit professionals to transition from simply working off-site to intentionally designing a high-impact workplace that maximizes both productivity and well-being. 

Access the business book summary. 

The Power of Remote – Cynthia Watson & Shane Spraggs 

The Power of Remote is another guide for the nonprofit leaders who feel their organization is still developing their remote culture. While many organizations already have basic protocols and technology in place for their remote teams, Watson & Spraggs challenge leaders to audit whether their workflows truly enable peak productivity and long-term wellness. This book provides a strategic framework for every stage of the remote employment cycle – from hiring and onboarding to identifying the subtle signs of burnout. This book frames remote work not as a threat, but as an opportunity for a highly efficient and highly engaged digital workplace. 

Access the business book review. 

Open Talent – John Winsor & Jin H. Paik 

Open Talent by John Winsor and Jin Paik goes beyond traditional borders to explore global solutions for local workforce shortages. While not every nonprofit can recruit globally those with remote-first service structures can use this book to tap into a global ecosystem of freelancers and specialists. Drawing on their work at Harvard, the authors argue that the “war for talent” is over, and the prize is a new operating model where organizations orchestrate talent from both inside and outside their walls.  

Access the business book review. 

Learning Community Courses 

If you prefer a more interactive format, take one of Social Current’s on-demand courses. Through this self-paced, multimedia experience, you’ll gain a deep understanding of the key concepts and practices of leading remote teams. 

Managing Virtual & Hybrid Teams  

Virtual, hybrid, and remote teams need a strategy for thinking differently, communicating digitally, and making sure people feel included, connected, and aligned to perform at their best. This course is designed to help leaders develop a new mindset, skill set, and toolkit to handle the additional complexity and ambiguity associated with navigating the new remote landscape. 

Learn more about this Learning Community course. This course includes eight hours of content and can be completed over the course of a year. 

Learn more about how the KIC helps social sector leaders and professionals stay informed without becoming overwhelmed. Impact Partners and KIC subscribers receive access to our clearinghouse library, tailored databases, and more. 

Social Current also offers training, assessments, and consulting around organizational and leadership development to help teams sharpen their strategy, embrace adaptive leadership, build inclusive teams, and more. 

Social Current Knowledge and Insights Center Spotlight | January 2026

Reflective Practices and the Self-Aware Leader

For over a century, management philosophy suggested that what makes us human, our emotions, our vulnerabilities, and our need for connection, was a liability to the bottom line. The strategies prioritized command, control, and efficiency. However, many are now realizing that this can create a reactive culture of burnout, fear, turnover, and declining performance. To break this cycle, social sector leaders must embrace self-awareness as their most strategic asset.

The self-reflective practice of metacognition involves deliberately considering how we think and how we learn and is key to developing self-awareness. Leaders with high metacognitive skills are significantly less susceptible to cognitive biases, which compromise critical thinking and decision-making. When a leader understands their own strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots, they can interrupt patterns of bias or overconfidence and increase their effectiveness in building positive staff cultures.

The Space Between Stimulus and Response

Today’s workplace is often characterized by “firefighting” the crisis of the moment, rather than building sustainable, agile workplace systems and cultures. So, it is no wonder that leaders feel the pressure to act immediately. However, as a renowned researcher and writer, Brené Brown, emphasizes in her latest interviewwith Fortune Magazine, “great leadership requires the ability to create time where none seems to exist.” She encourages leaders to slow down their thinking to ensure their response is aligned with long-term impact, rather than short-term relief.

By incorporating mindfulness and other strategies to regulate the nervous system, a leader can create a vital buffer between stimulus and response. Only in this space, can the leader tap into several critical tools, including:

• Emotional Granularity: The ability to name specific emotions with precision. For example, instead of simply feeling “frustrated” during a board meeting, a self-aware leader can identify that they actually feel “apprehensive” about a specific risk or “misaligned” with a proposed strategy. This clarity allows them to address the specific issue, rather than acting out their frustration in unproductive ways.
• Systems Thinking: Seeing the organization as a web of interconnected parts and understanding how decisions impact the entire system.
• Mindful Presence and Decision Making: Staying anchored in the current moment to prevent the “threat response” of the brain from hijacking the prefrontal cortex helps a leader avoid reactive, perhaps illogical, decisions that prioritize short-term relief over long-term outcomes.

The Stabilizing Power of Self-Aware Leaders

The benefits of developing self-awareness go beyond just the leaders themselves. The impact ripples outward, enhancing personal relationships, improving team dynamics, and strengthening the entire organization. A self-aware leader acts as a circuit breaker when uncertainty and anxiety run high. By recognizing their own physiological threat response, such as a rapid heartbeat or the urge to micro-manage, they can pause and pivot. This self-regulation creates a psychological “anchor” for the team.  

When a leader remains grounded and curious during a crisis, it signals to the team that it is safe to remain in their higher-order thinking rather than being impulsive. Self-awareness can help a leader to identify, acknowledge, and channel their team’s anxiety and transform a potentially volatile moment into strategic action.

Why This Matters

Current workforce data reveals that people are struggling. In the social sector, we continue to see a rise in burnout and a decline in psychological safety and mental health. Many leaders are not well-equipped to handle the human complexity of their teams, and those who struggle to connect and build trust will not see the performance their organizations need to succeed.

High performance is a byproduct of trust and connection. When a leader lacks self-awareness, they often project their own insecurities and fears onto their team, creating a culture that stifles innovation. Conversely, a leader who is aware of their own internal state can foster an environment where employees feel seen and valued and recognize humanity in each other. This is not a “soft” skill; it is a solid prerequisite for success in an interdependent sector.

By unlearning the “command-and-control” habits of the past and embracing the complexities of human psychology, leaders can replace defensive management with the deep thinking, deep collaboration, and deep connection that drives long-term impact.  

Ready to take the next step? Social Current’s free webinar series, Building a Healthy Workplace Culture, is designed to equip staff and leaders at all levels with foundational mindsets, knowledge, and skills to help themselves and their colleagues prioritize well-being at work, manage through uncertainty, and handle conflict with compassion.

Top Resources

• Building Brain-Aware Mindsets: A Cornerstone of Healthy Organizational Cultures (Kelly Martin, Social Current, 2025)  
• Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit (Brene Brown, 2025)
• In a Turbulent World, Self-Awareness and Stability are Leadership Must-Haves (World Economic Forum, 2025)

Social Current Solutions

At Social Current, we provide the tools and insights you need to lead with purpose and drive real change. Check out these opportunities to improve your skills.

Consultation Services & Upcoming Events  

Executive Leadership Institute
Register Now: 2026-2027 Cohort Kicks Off May 10-14 in Chicago
The Executive Leadership Institute (ELI), offered in partnership with Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business, prepares senior-level managers and executives to lead into the future of human services. It moves beyond traditional leadership practices to next-generation leadership practices that fuel future-ready leaders and organizations.

In addition to a weeklong in-person event, students participate in a full year of online learning, which includes interactive presentations, small-group discussions, case study analysis, and more. To help students reinforce and apply their learning, they complete self-designed projects that address an organizational challenge.

CEO Convening
Save the Date: Oct. 19-21 in Chicago
Social Current’s CEO Convening offers learning and networking tailored to CEOs and executive directors of human and social services organizations. By bringing together leaders who truly understand each other’s day-to-day, it will help you develop relationships, share challenges, find solutions, and build community. With facilitated sessions, the event’s programming emphasizes dialogue and collaboration to support an organization’s top leader and identify solutions.  

Individual and Team Coaching and Support
Social Current offers customizable consulting and training related to adaptive leadership strategies, as well as creating healthy organizational cultures.  

Center for Creative Leadership On-Demand Courses
Lead into the future of your organization with these on-demand courses from the Center for Creative Leadership Series. This dynamic collection of on-demand courses provides you with the essential skills and strategies to thrive in today’s ever-evolving landscape. Enroll now in these new courses:

• Burn Bright: The Resilience Advantage
• Innovation Leadership
• Managing Virtual and Hybrid Teams

About the Knowledge and Insights Center

Social Current’s Knowledge and Insights Center equips social sector professionals with the research and resources they need to stay current on trends, implement best practices, and improve their organizations. It specializes in vetting information sources and systematizing information so that it is easy to understand. Gain access to the Knowledge and Insights Center by becoming a Social Current Impact Partner or purchasing access.

More than half a century ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. issued a warning that continues to echo with unsettling clarity: “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman, because it often results in physical death.” For Dr. King, health was never separate from social justice. It was a measure of whether a society truly valued human life.

Today’s health care system reveals little progress since these words were spoken. Americans face soaring healthcare costs that force families to delay care, abandon coverage, or accumulate crushing medical debt. Trust in the broader health care system continues to erode, as providers themselves are stretched thin, grappling with workforce shortages and burnout. Additionally, these pressures do not fall evenly. Racial and economic disparities persist, leaving some communities experiencing higher rates of chronic disease and shorter life expectancies.

According to a December 2025 report from KFF:

• Among people under age 65, American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) and Hispanic individuals were more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be uninsured as of 2023.
• AIAN and Black people have a shorter life expectancy (70.1 and 74.0 years, respectively) compared to white people (78.4 years) as of 2023.
• Black and AIAN infants were at least two times as likely to die as white infants as of 2023. Pregnancy-related mortality rates are also more than three times higher among Black women compared to white women.
• Hispanic, AIAN, and Black households were roughly twice as likely to experience food insecurity as White households.

Dr. King understood that disparities in health are not accidental. He recognized that health is shaped by context in which we live and the systems we build—education, housing, transportation, and health care—and that denying people the conditions to live well is a denial of their humanity. That is why he called health injustice not merely inhumane, but inhuman: a moral failure so severe it costs lives.

The nation stands at a crossroad with rapidly advancing technology, political turbulence, and economic uncertainty converging to reshape health care. His words compel us to not only innovate, but to ensure those innovations help all people thrive, reminding us that health injustice is one of the gravest moral failings requiring that each decision point be made through the lens of humanity and justice.

Recommendations for Leaders

Address Affordability and Access

• Address the social determinants of health through community-based services.
• Prevent toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences through parenting and support and education.

Build Workforce Resilience

• Invest in mental health supports and other strategies to reduce burnout among health care staff.
• Develop career pathways and mentorship to retain talent and diversify the workforce.

Advocate for Policy Reform

• Engage in state-level coalitions to influence Medicaid expansion and telehealth parity laws.
• Push for value-based care models that reward outcomes rather than volume.

Embed Equity in Every Decision

• Conduct equity audits to identify disparities in care delivery.
• Partner with community health leaders to co-design solutions that reflect local needs.

Health and human services leaders today face complex challenges, but the moral imperative remains clear. Health equity is not optional; it is foundational to social justice and humanity. By combining strategic innovation with ethical leadership, we can honor Dr. King’s vision and create systems that truly serve all.

In general, social sector organizations seem to be cautiously optimistic that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to increase workplace capacity and improve fundraising efforts, service delivery, and impact measurement. Organizations are already using AI tools to streamline communications, increase outreach, and support grant writing, with some organizations reporting a savings of 15-20 hours weekly on administrative tasks.   

However, despite this enthusiasm around AI, social sector organizations continue to trail their for-profit counterparts in adopting these tools, and a widening gap within the sector itself is similarly stark. Nonprofits with annual revenues over $1 million are embracing AI at nearly twice the rate of smaller organizations. Considering over half of all nonprofit organizations bring in less than $1 million, a substantial segment of the sector at a competitive disadvantage. 

This gap threatens to undermine the collective mission of the social sector. If left unaddressed, it could deepen existing inequities, limit community responsiveness, and create a two-speed system in which only some organizations can fully harness emerging technologies. 

• Financial constraints: AI integration can have steep barriers to entry, including costs for software licenses, system integration, and ongoing subscription or compute fees. Even when initial tools are affordable, long-term costs for customization, enhancement, and compliance-driven auditing can place AI out of reach. As The Bridgespan Group points out, the overall lack of funding is compounded by a nonprofit financing model that often treats technology as a luxury, rather than an integral strategic investment. 
• Lack of specialized talent: Advanced AI tools often require specialized skills, such as machine learning engineering, systems integration, data science, cybersecurity, and API management. Organizations with revenues under $1 million rarely maintain such roles. In fact, roughly 41% of nonprofit organizations rely on just one staff member to make all AI decisions. This can lead to bottlenecks and makes it difficult to establish formal data governance, including AI governance committees, policies, and quality controls. 
• Limited technology and data infrastructure: Legacy systems, inconsistent data practices, or outdated hardware can also make it difficult to implement AI solutions. Even well-resourced nonprofits and for-profit companies struggle with limited AI capacity within existing enterprise systems, while organizations with basic or homegrown enterprise systems may not even have the option to purchase plug-and-play AI add-ons. Additionally, organizations serving smaller communities typically do not generate or store the large datasets required to train or fine-tune models.  

The disparities arising in practice include: 

• Gaps in mission effectiveness: AI can increase efficiency, expand hours of availability through automated tools, enhance case management, and streamline reporting. 
• Widening funding disparities: Funders increasingly expect strong data practices, predictive analytics, and evidence of measurable outcomes. Harnessing predictive analytics can substantially boost fundraising efforts, with organizations seeing donor response increases of 20% to 30%. 
• Reduced responsiveness to local needs: As well-equipped organizations scale capacity with AI, local and grassroots groups, which are often those closest to community realities, risk falling behind.  

Ultimately, the social sector, technology sector, and philanthropic community must collaborate to ensure that technological progress strengthens, rather than fragments, our collective impact. 

Overall, nonprofits of all sizes are optimistic about the impact of AI and report an eagerness to experiment with AI solutions. By investing in shared resources, targeted capacity building, and policies that promote transparency and accessibility, we can ensure that all social sector organizations are able to integrate human-first AI solutions effectively. With thoughtful action, the sector can harness AI not as a force for inequality but as a tool for expanding opportunity, strengthening communities, and advancing a more equitable future. 

• NTEN’s Equity Guide for Nonprofit Technology is a practical tool for promoting equitable use and implementation of technology within social sector organizations to address systemic inequities. NTEN provides resources, training, and community support to help nonprofits use technology strategically and equitably. 
• TechTonic Justice has a new Decision Guide for Considering AI Use that offers a helpful set of questions as organizations gauge their AI readiness.  
• TechSoup’s 2025 State of AI in Nonprofits Report shares how nonprofits are using AI, the common challenges they face, and how they determine their AI readiness. 
• For even more frameworks and templates to put into practice, see Social Current’s Knowledge and Insights Center topic spotlight on Opportunities and Risks for Implementing AI in Human Services. 

Social Current’s Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) is a yearlong leadership development program offered in partnership with Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business. Through ELI, executives and senior managers learn how to lead more effectively in an ever-changing environment. The institute includes an in-person event, May 10-14, 2026, in Chicago; real-world projects that address a challenge at their organizations; mentorship; and more. 

Over the course of the program, leaders grow their knowledge and skills to effectively manage day-to-day operations and prepare for future challenges and changes. 

We are proud to spotlight the experience of ELI Alum: Oriana Carey, CEO of the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families.

Oriana and fellow ELI alumni will share their experiences and insight on the program in the webinar series, Executive Leadership Institute for Organizational Impact. Register now to join her session Jan. 8 from 2-3 p.m. ET.

Q&A With Oriana

Tell us about your background. 

I started working for the Coalition in 2005 as a project manager, where I played a key role in launching the Wisconsin Foster Care and Adoption Resource Center. In 2014, I was named successor to longtime CEO Colleen M. Ellingson and stepped into the role with a strong vision for strengthening family resilience and connection across the state. 

I earned my bachelor’s in social work from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh and master’s in social work from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. I am also a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Wisconsin. 

Prior to coming to the Coalition, I served in various supervisory and managerial roles within child- and family-serving organizations. My leadership is grounded in a deep commitment to ensuring that families receive meaningful, compassionate support—and to fostering a work culture where staff feel valued, engaged, and able to grow professionally. 

I first learned about ELI at a Senior Leadership Conference hosted by the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities. 

Can you tell us about your ELI project? 

Nearly a decade ago, as part of my ELI project, I led an organization-wide effort to strengthen Coalition’s use of data to understand and communicate our impact. At the time, we were rich in activity-level information, how many families we served and what services we delivered, but lacked a clear performance framework to guide internal decision making or demonstrate outcomes to funders. My project involved researching best practices; building staff buy-in; facilitating discussions to identify needed cultural shifts; and beginning the work of defining purpose, goals, and impact measures across key program areas. That experience taught me the importance of pacing major change, managing expectations, and creating shared ownership across an organization. It continues to shape my leadership today, especially in how I approach strategic planning, performance culture, and organizational resilience. 

What is something you learned at ELI that still sticks with you? 

What has stayed with me most from ELI is how powerful it was to pair meaningful learning with a strong cohort of peers. The combination of new leadership tools and the support of other rising leaders shaped how I approach change, communication, and long-term organizational leadership.  

How did the institute impact you as a leader? 

The institute pushed me to grow in ways that prepared me for executive leadership. It sharpened my skills, broadened my perspective, and gave me the confidence to lead with greater intention when I transitioned into the CEO role. 

Are there any alumni you are still in contact with? 

Yes, I’ve stayed connected to ELI alumni through events and my service on the advisory council. I also remain close to one colleague from my cohort; I was able to use my professional relationships to help her connect with opportunities in Wisconsin, which led to a senior leadership role and, eventually, her becoming a CEO. 

What advice would you give to someone considering ELI? 

My advice is to look beyond the immediate demands on your time or budget and consider what ELI can mean for your long-term growth. It’s an investment in your leadership, your confidence, and the impact you can make in your organization. 

What advice would you give to a new student before beginning the institute? 

Come in with an open mind and the confidence that you belong there. Some of your peers will have more experience and some less, but you can’t predict what you’ll learn—or what you’ll offer—until you’re in it. Think long term, lean into the experience, and enjoy every moment of the learning journey that is ELI. 

How has participating in ELI helped you to advance your career? 

Unlike many who come to ELI, my path to the CEO role was already in motion when I participated. However, I’ve watched many of my cohort peers advance into C-suite roles, and I know ELI played a significant part in their trajectory. For me, ELI strengthened my confidence and clarified my leadership approach, giving me tools that have made a meaningful difference in navigating the ebbs and flows of my executive journey. 

Learn more about ELI online and sign up to be notified when registration opens. 

Social Current’s Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) is a yearlong leadership development program offered in partnership with Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business. Through ELI, executives and senior managers learn how to lead more effectively in an ever-changing environment. The institute includes an in-person event, May 10-14, 2026, in Chicago; real-world projects that address a challenge at their organizations; mentorship; and more. 

Over the course of the program, leaders grow their knowledge and skills to effectively manage day-to-day operations and prepare for future challenges and changes. 

We are proud to spotlight the experience of ELI Alum: Amber Jones, Black church organizer at ISAIAH/Faith in Minnesota. 

Amber and fellow ELI alumni will share their experiences and insight on the program in the webinar series, Executive Leadership Institute for Organizational Impact. Register now for sessions in this series. 

Q&A

Tell us about your background. 

My background is in community organizing, policy advocacy, and nonprofit leadership. I hold a master’s from Luther Seminary and a bachelor’s from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. At the time of my ELI experience, I was a managing director for policy at a local nonprofit in Minneapolis and had previously been a policy advisor in our Minnesota governor’s office. I have since returned to community organizing. I first learned about ELI from my previous CEO, who is also an ELI alum

Can you tell us about your ELI project? 

My ELI project was creating an organizational strategy for community mobilization. This was to pair with policy advocacy and partner development as key strategies for transformation in our organization. We conceptualized our work as a ‘think-and-do tank,’ pairing the intellectual rigor of a think tank with the strategy and action of an activist organization.  

My ELI project sought to discover ways we could activate the public in driving our policy solutions into implementation. In the end, I deepened internal collaboration with this in mind, socializing these concepts amongst the team. I also oversaw the buildout of a digital Action Center to encourage online advocacy actions accessible across the state. 

How did the institute impact you as a leader?  

ELI helped me zoom out and gain a new perspective on what executive leadership truly requires. It also helped me approach problems differently than how I’ve done in the past. It pushed me to take more accountability for how I show up as a leader, and what I offered toward solution-building.  

What advice would you give to someone considering ELI?  

For someone considering ELI, ensure you can create capacity in your schedule for it, as it is rigorous and intentional in investing in your growth. Gain active support from your executive leaders, using it as a way to deepen your understanding of your own organization and how you can be in service to it.  

What advice would you give to a new student before beginning the institute?  

Get curious about yourself and your workplace. Analyze yourself as a leader—strengths, weaknesses, challenges, opportunities. Bring that knowledge into the experience with you, and use your workplace as a laboratory during ELI. Test new concepts you’ve learned through ELI in your workplace in real time and learn from what you derive in your testing.  

Learn more about ELI online and sign up to be notified when registration opens.