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

Does your learning and development team spend more time responding to requests than shaping where your organization is headed?
In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with L&D leaders Kamaria Scott, Rachel Platt, and  Yogi Mueller for a conversation on why nonprofit learning and development teams stay reactive and what it takes to build stronger learning and development strategies.
Too many L&D functions have been reduced to a training factory instead of shaping where the organization is headed. We talk about why this happens even to skilled, well-intentioned professionals and the real cost of staying reactive instead of strategic.

▶️ The Hidden Cost of Reactive Learning in Nonprofits
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 Reactive vs Strategic Learning and Development
00:04:05 Understanding Reactive Learning 
00:06:31 How the L&D Business Partner Role Got Lost
00:15:25 Learning Becomes Strategic When...
00:23:06 The Real Cost of Staying Reactive
00:25:25 One Shift Every L&D Professional Can Make Today

Resources from this episode:
Past episodes on strategic learning:
E195: Learning IS Strategy but Some Learning Teams Stay Stuck in Reactive Mode. Here's Why.
E192: 10 Questions Strategic Learning Leaders Ask
E191: How Nonprofit Learning Leaders Can Show Up as a Strategic Partner
E186: The Mindset that Separates Strategic L&D Leaders from Order Takers
E134: Being a Strategic Learning Partner & The Biggest Mistake You’re Making
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Connect with guests from this episode:
 Yogi Meuller
Kamaria Scott
Rachel Platt

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

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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

In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with nonprofit leader Melody Lam to explore how she built a coaching culture by training first-time managers to coach.
Coaching sounds like the obvious solution when new managers struggle to have hard conversations with their teams, but it often gets treated as a perk reserved for executives, and the cost of outside coaches can make the whole idea feel out of reach. 
Melody's experience shows that coaching does not have to start big or expensive, it can start with a simple model, a willing pilot group, and two minutes of practice at a time.

▶️ When to Choose Coaching as Your Leadership Development Solution with Melody Lam
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 Why Nonprofits Need Coaches, Not Just Training
00:03:50 Melody's Path into Nonprofit Leadership Development
00:07:39 The Benefits of Coaching Across Organizations
00:11:45 Building Emotional Buy-In for Coaching
00:14:39 Making Coaching Accessible with a Limited Budget
00:19:13 Piloting and Scaling Coaching Across the Organization
00:21:01 Coaching Results: From Technical Skills to Coaching Culture
00:23:42 Where to Start with Coaching (Even with Limited Time or Budget)

Resources from this episode:
E175: How One Nonprofit Used Habit Stacking to Improve Feedback Skills with Amy Glover
The Extraordinary Coach: How the Best Leaders Help Others Grow by John Zenger and Kathleen Stinnett
Join us for our next Nonprofit L&D Collective networking event on August 19: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/join-the-nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective 
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Connect with Melody
LinkedIn: Melody L.

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

Why does your team go right back to their old habits the week after training ends?
In this episode of Learning for Good, I break down how nonprofit leaders can design training that leads to lasting workplace behavior change instead of a short-lived bump in knowledge. Most training ends the same way. People show up, they learn something new, and within a few weeks it is like the training never happened. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone, and it is not because your training was bad. 
What matters is designing for what happens after training ends, so the learning people carry with them actually changes what they do on the job.

▶️ How to Make Learning Last: Designing for Workplace Behavior Change
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 How to Make Learning Last
00:05:03 The Real Goal of Nonprofit Staff Training and Development
00:05:36 The Four Gears of Lasting Behavior Change

Resources from this episode:
Episode mentioned:
E193: Why Staff Need a Reason to Change Behavior
Join the free, virtual Nonprofit L&D Collective networking event: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/join-the-nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective 
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

Does your L&D team spend most of its time responding to urgent training requests instead of shaping strategy?
In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with Mark Nilles and Scot Vessell, two experienced learning and development leaders, to discuss what it actually takes for nonprofit L&D to operate as a strategic lever.
We argue that becoming a strategic partner starts with an internal shift, from seeing yourself as a learning designer who produces training to seeing yourself as a change agent who helps solve organizational problems.

▶️ Learning IS Strategy but Some Learning Teams Stay Stuck in Reactive Mode. Here's Why.
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 Becoming a Strategic Partner in Nonprofit L&D
00:04:25 Meet the Panel: Nonprofit L&D Leaders on Strategic Partnership
00:08:05 Why Nonprofit L&D Teams Get Stuck in Reactive Mode
00:14:24 The Risk of L&D Staying a Reactive Training Factory
00:18:03 What Strategic Learning and Development Looks Like
00:22:30 Reframing the Conversation Around Nonprofit Training and Behavior Change
00:29:46 Practical Advice for Becoming a More Strategic Nonprofit L&D Partner

Resources from this episode:
Past strategic partnership episodes:
E192: 10 Questions Strategic Learning Leaders Ask
E191: How Nonprofit Learning Leaders Can Show Up as a Strategic Partner
E186: The Mindset that Separates Strategic L&D Leaders from Order Takers
E134: Being a Strategic Learning Partner & The Biggest Mistake You're Making
Join the next Learning for Good Summit on July 22nd: https://collective.skillmastersmarket.com/invitation?code=9A6625 
Join the Nonprofit Learning and Development Collective: https://www.skillmastersmarket.com/nonprofit-learning-and-development-collective

Connect with Mark
LinkedIn: Mark Nilles 

Connect with Scot
LinkedIn: Scot Vessell 

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

Do you have employee engagement data sitting in a survey report with no plan for turning it into action?
In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with Wilson Kirkpatrick, Director of People Operations at Waterford.org, to talk about how they used employee engagement data to design a coaching program that strengthened leadership trust and psychological safety.
Many nonprofit leaders collect engagement survey data every year, but once the report comes back, it often sits untouched. That data only becomes valuable when you pair it with a deliberate cycle of listening, understanding, and acting, turning a single survey into an ongoing system for organizational growth.

▶️ How to Align Learning with Data with Nonprofit HR Leader Wilson Kirkpatrick
▶️ Key Points:
00:00:00 Wilson's Path Into HR and People Operations
00:05:21 Inside Waterford.org's Mission and Team
00:06:16 Turning Employee Engagement Data Into a Business Case for Coaching
00:11:31 Prioritizing Quick Wins When Rolling Out Coaching
00:15:23 Measuring the Results: Engagement Score Improvements
00:17:18 Advice for Leaders Who Feel Intimidated by Data
00:19:02 Where to Find the Data Already Inside Your Organization

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

Connect with Wilson
LinkedIn: Wilson Kirkpatrick
Website: waterford.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