Practice in Vulnerability

There has been a long gap in posts on this blog, partially because during the Fall of 2011 I was utterly overwhelmed wrapping up my final semester of the Masters in Public Administration / Nonprofit Management program. The other reason, however, was that I felt like I had nothing to say. When you’re so busy, wrapped up in task after task with something to be done every moment, you become like a machine. You...

Remembering 9/11: The Flying Man

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I have been trying to articulate how I’ve felt about this all weekend. Looking back at iconic and horrific images from that day, the one that stuck with me the most was the one known as “The Falling Man.” Staring at the image of this man, I was able to begin to express how that day affected me, in poem format. The picture invokes deep sadness...

Music for Nonprofit Devotees, Part II: 10 Songs to (Re)Invigorate Changemakers

Last month I wrote about how a song from my youth inspired me at the end of a taxing day. I stated a firm belief that music can invigorate and drive us to work to help others and make positive changes in the world around us if we let it. It’s hard to put a finger on what it is about music that allows us to feel this way, and I’m very curious about how different music affects different people...

Higher and Higher and Into the Fire: Music for Nonprofit Devotees, Part I

It had been a long day. It was late, and I was feeling a little downtrodden. Some ups and downs of nonprofit work had been endured and it left me feeling physically and emotionally exhausted. I was expecting a rather quiet, sullen drive home when the notion hit me to put a very old CD into my car’s CD player and see what the last song on it was. There it was. The intrepid, anticipatory strings and horn. The...

Adventures in Founder’s Syndrome: Like having a baby

At some point a year or two ago, I stopped calling it “my” nonprofit. In conversation I faltered in attempts to come up with new ways of explaining my role with the nonprofit I’d co-founded and led for the past 6 years. “The nonprofit I serve with,” and “The nonprofit I help lead” became new phrases. They were clumsy and a little awkward, still, but the alternative–continuing to call it “my”...