Connecting the Dots
I just had a big birthday. The kind that makes you grateful to reach it, while also wondering where the time has gone.
Milestone birthdays can stir a lot within us—nostalgia, reflection, gratitude. For some, fear or anxiety. A sense of urgency to “get things right” while you still have the time.
The first time you receive a piece of mail from AARP, it’s a clear reminder that you’re entering a new phase of life. I like to think of this next chapter as my wisdom era.
After gathering all types of experience over time, this feels like the moment when things begin to connect. Seemingly unrelated or random life events now reveal themselves as necessary steps along the path. It’s as if I’ve been collecting tools, slowly, one at a time—and now I have what I need to build something meaningful.
It’s exciting. It’s also a bit daunting.
Building Sustainability for the Future
In my career, as an organizational leader, people are counting on me. They trust me to have answers when things get challenging. They rely on my counsel, my calm, my steadiness—especially when uncertainty and fear loom like dark, menacing clouds. They look for support as they try to navigate the systems and norms in our sector, even the ones I wish we had transformed long ago: martyrdom, scarcity mindset, chronic overwork.
There are many philosophies that speak to the kind of legacy we might strive for. The one that resonates most with me is the Seventh Generation Principle—an Indigenous philosophy rooted in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois). It reminds us that the decisions we make today should sustainably benefit people seven generations into the future, calling us to act as stewards for both our ancestors and those yet to come.
While this principle is often applied to environmental stewardship, I find myself asking how we might apply it to our work in the nonprofit sector.
The Challenge Ahead
The data and trends in our sector are clear—and sobering:
95% of leaders surveyed in State of Nonprofits 2024 cited burnout as a concern.
Annual turnover in the sector is approximately 19–22%, significantly higher than the 12% average in other industries.
The World Health Organization recognizes burnout as a significant occupational health issue and includes it in the International Classification of Diseases.
Only 32% of respondents in a 2025 survey said they definitively plan to remain in the nonprofit sector.
Nonprofit leaders and staff cannot do their best work when they are unwell—emotionally, physically, spiritually, or mentally.
People need sleep, rest, nourishing food, and stress-relieving practices to thrive. When they are tasked with leading essential work to address disparities and strengthen communities, that need becomes even more critical.
We honor the contributions and sacrifices of those who came before us when we build more sustainable ways of working. With respect and gratitude, we can lay to rest what no longer serves us.
And we cannot do this work alone.
We need more collaborators—and accomplices—in philanthropy who understand, champion, and fund this work through a sustainability lens.
Healthy staff have the capacity to work effectively, with purpose, and with the energy required to make meaningful contributions to the mission.
Retaining strong, well-supported staff leads to more effective teams—teams that stay together long enough to build the trust and relationships that purpose-driven work demands.
The time has come to boldly reimagine what is possible.
To invest in nonprofit leaders so they can meet communities from a place of renewed strength—modeling the very practices and possibilities we hope to see in the world around us.
Healthy people Build Healthy Communities.
What investments could you make now to help ensure that the nonprofit sector is thriving and sustainable seven generations from now?
