Learning for Good | L&D Solutions and Leadership Development for Nonprofits

How do you get your CEO to see staff development as central to your nonprofit's success rather than something that is nice to have?
In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with Elizabeth Cushing, CEO of Playworks, to explore how a nonprofit CEO thinks about learning and development and staff training and development.
In nonprofits, resources always feel finite, and staff development often loses out to more urgent priorities, even for leaders who believe deeply in their people. However, if your organization is a body, learning is the nervous system, and that makes investing in your people central to your mission.

▶️ Why Learning Is Central to Your Nonprofit's Success and Sustainability with Playworks CEO Elizabeth Cushing
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 Learning Is Central to Your Nonprofit's Success
00:03:21 Elizabeth's Nonprofit Background
00:07:44 How Playworks Brings Play into Schools
00:09:38 How Learning and Staff Development Drive the Playworks Mission and Strengthen Their Organization
00:17:44 Why Staff Development Deserves Finite Nonprofit Resources
00:20:53 What Makes L&D a Strategic Partner in Achieving Goals
00:23:42 Advice for Nonprofit CEOs Juggling Competing Priorities

Resources from this episode:
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Connect with Elizabeth
LinkedIn: Elizabeth Cushing
Website: playworks.org

Connect with Heather
LinkedIn: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

⭐Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review!
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Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

How do you get your CEO, COO, executive director, or board to see why investing in staff is not just important, it's mission critical?
In this episode of Learning for Good, I break down how to get leadership buy-in for staff development in your nonprofit.
The first step is to stop talking about training. Leadership already has a goal in the spotlight, and training isn't it, so pushing it into the conversation just gets you tuned out. 
I share how to connect a specific capability gap to the goal leadership already cares about, how to make the risk of ignoring that gap clear, and how to show leadership that their investment is working.

▶️ How to Get Leadership Buy-In for Staff Development in Your Nonprofit
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 Getting Leadership to Invest in Staff Development
00:05:09 How to Step Into Your Leaders' Spotlight
00:07:46 Defining Outcomes
00:08:47 Proving the Investment Is Working

Resources from this episode:
Join the next Learning for Good Summit in October: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/influence-to-action
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Connect with Heather
LinkedIn: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

⭐Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review!
🔗Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends.
Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

One of the most challenging parts of our jobs as  nonprofit learning and development professionals is working with and through other people.  This makes our ability to influence critical to our work.
In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with leadership development consultant and relationship expert Morag Barrett to talk about how nonprofit learning and development professionals can build influence and strengthen the workplace relationships that make training initiatives succeed.
Morag walks through her Relationship Ecosystem framework: ally, supporter, rival, and adversary. Most relationships aren't fixed in one category. Her advice is to start by moving your supporters closer to allies and to make sure you have at least one go-to ally relationship.

▶️ How to Build Relationships that Move Work Forward in Your Nonprofit with Morag Barrett
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 Using Influence to Shape Work
00:04:13 Morag's Path Into Relationship and Leadership Work
00:08:57 The Part of Relationships You Can Control
00:13:24 From Transactional to Transformational Relationships
00:16:28 The Relationship Ecosystem: Ally, Supporter, Rival, Adversary
00:26:19 Relationship Pulse Check: Three Questions That Build Trust

Resources from this episode:
Morag’s Books:
Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships by Morag Barrett
You, Me, We: Why We All Need a Friend at Work (and How to Show Up As One!) by Morag Barrett, Eric Spencer and Ruby Vesely
Join the next Learning for Good Summit in October: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/influence-to-action 
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Connect with Morag
LinkedIn: Morag Barrett
Website: skyeteam.com 

Connect with Heather
LinkedIn: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

⭐Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review!
🔗Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

How do you design training that actually leads to a job, not just a certificate?
In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with Amina Mohamed, founder and executive director of Cameras for Girls,  a Canadian charity advancing gender equality in media across Africa, to talk about  designing learning around the change you want to create.
So many nonprofits build training programs and hope people walk away better prepared, but hoping isn't the same as knowing a program creates real employment outcomes. For Amina, a training program only matters if it ends in a job, and that standard shapes every phase of how she builds and evaluates her work.

▶️ How One Nonprofit Uses On-the-Job Training to Fulfill Its Mission with Amina Mohamed
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 Career Training Reflection
00:03:11 Introduction to Amina: From Film and Television to Cameras for Girls
00:09:07 The Mission Behind Cameras for Girls
00:12:38 Inside the Four-Phase Training Model
00:20:52 Amina's Vision for Cameras for Girls: Training Isn't the Goal, Change Is
00:25:03 Turning Training Into Lasting Impact

Resources from this episode:
Join the next Learning for Good Summit in October: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/influence-to-action

Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Connect with Amina
LinkedIn: Amina Mohamed
Website: camerasforgirls.org 

Connect with Heather
LinkedIn: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

⭐Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review!
🔗Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends.

Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms

In this episode of Learning for Good, I break down three practical shifts nonprofit learning designers can make to build credibility and grow their influence.
Many competent learning and development professionals feel like their recommendations don't carry weight. It's frustrating to know you understand a problem and can offer a better solution, only to have that expertise go unheard. That gap usually has less to do with skill and more to do with how much evidence you've given people that you can be trusted.
I explain why credibility isn't something you announce, it's something you build one interaction at a time until people trust your judgment enough to follow where you lead.

▶️ 3 Small Shifts that Increase Your Credibility as a Learning Designer
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 How Credibility Works in Nonprofit Leadership
00:03:26 How to Build Trust Within Your Nonprofit
00:05:31 3 Shifts that Increase Credibility as a Learning Designer
00:08:55 How Credibility Changes Stakeholder Buy-In

Resources from this episode:
Join the next Learning for Good Summit in October: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/influence-to-action
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Connect with Heather
LinkedIn: Heather Burright
Website: skillmastersmarket.com
Book an interest call with Heather here.

⭐Was this episode helpful? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, follow and leave a review!
🔗Know anyone who would benefit from this episode? SHARE this with your friends.
Learning for Good is the podcast for nonprofit leaders seeking practical L&D solutions. Hosted by Heather, an experienced consultant, we dive into leadership development, instructional design, change management, and staff management strategies tailored to nonprofit organizations.

Discover how to implement impactful learning solutions, foster belonging, and influence senior leaders. Each episode provides the tools you need to confidently navigate high-level conversations and drive meaningful change within your organization.

Let’s create lasting impact through innovative L&D solutions!

Produced by Ideablossoms