talking to statues
by Seattle’s most recent citywide election happened in 2023. Kshama Sawant, my beloved rabblerousing socialist council member, resigned after a decade on the dais. Many of the more progressive incumbents lost …
Tag: power
the future of food banks
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? The question may be complicated by surges of fascism and ever-looming climate change. When we’re thinking 5 years ahead, we can be …
evolving our DNA
How do organizations change? Why is it that most organizations can set goals for racial justice and then never achieve them? What’s so difficult about doing things in different ways? …
the preacher and the choir
It’s not easy being among the workers angry about the decisions people at the top are making every day. Some leaders think that decision-making at a nonprofit can be hard …
power and the harm of “we”
Another heatwave hit Seattle last week. It was mild compared to so many places in the world. I complained as the heat and smoke descended, a regular marker now for …
noticing injustice
My husband and I have a joke we tell each other before parties. “How long before we make the conversation about oppression?” It’s kind of a joke (we’re really fun …
gentlemen’s disagreements
Throughout his term, Barack Obama had a call for the activists agitating for change. He recalled what Franklin Roosevelt told his activists pushing for their own reforms. FDR said, “I …
a task force with oomph
I’ve written about the advice process many times since I started this blog. It’s one of the most thrilling discoveries I made after I entered senior leadership. The advice process …
the right stuff
A lot of nonprofits collect more data than they know what to do with. We might have a cool idea for a survey question. Or a foundation that’s giving us …