Business Planning, Collaborate, Grow, Growth/Scaling Plans, Organizational Assessments, Social Impact Architects
Should nonprofits act more like businesses? To be sure, nonprofits can learn a great deal from business. Like any business today, we need to use data, invest in talent, understand the full cost of our work to build strong, sustainable organizations. A compelling...
About Suzanne, Collaborate, Communicate, Grow, Impact, Lead, Social Impact Architects
This year marks a personal milestone for me: 30 years working in the social sector. Three decades of learning from nonprofit leaders, students, board members, volunteers and communities have shaped how I think about what it takes to build organizations that last. And...
Business Planning, Grow, Social Enterprise, Social Impact Architects, System Change
I still remember the day I learned one of the most important lessons about competition from an unlikely source: Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s. One of my professors at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business told our class the legendary story. During a campus...
Collaborate, Communicate, Grow, Impact, Lead, Social Impact Architects
Every once in a while, a conference does more than fill your notebook with new ideas. Sometimes, in rare moments of true inspiration, you can feel the energy as people and ideas bounce off one another. That is why I often quip, “Innovation happens through collision.”...
Issue Based Blogs, Social Impact Architects, Social Movements
One of my favorite questions to ask students is: Do you believe society can really change? When I first started teaching social entrepreneurship, the answer was almost always yes. My students believed they could make a difference. They debated ideas, challenged...
Annual Traditions, Board Development, Organizational Assessments, Social Impact Architects, Social Movements, Summer Reading
This summer, the World Cup reminded us that halftime is about more than taking a break. It is the moment when teams step away from the action, study the field and ask important questions: What is working? Where are we losing ground? What needs to change before we head...
