Open Questions: The Ross Collective Blog
Sharing insights and stories on nonprofit strategy, racial equity and leadership
Three areas for impactful, inclusive nonprofit boards in these times
How Structure, Connection and Action contribute to better board - and organizational - work.
Introducing…Inclusive Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations
Announcing the launch of Inclusive Strategic Planning for Nonprofits: A five-step process to expand energy, alignment, and opportunity.
Four Steps to a Productive Board Retreat that Drives Positive Organizational Change
Many nonprofit boards are currently seeking to shift their focus and practices. You may be working alongside one of them!
Why the Board Builders Symposium is Crucial Now
Why you should join us for the Board Builders' Symposium on September 26.
Four Insights and Five Key Steps for More Equitable Nonprofit Governance
Those of us who work closely with nonprofit boards or serve on boards know that a high percentage of boards are not working. And the challenges in terms of the stresses that boards are experiencing (racial injustice, inequities, workplace burnout, uncertainty in the larger economic environment) have increased over the past few years.
Why We Need to Listen When People Say They Don’t Feel That They Belong
We create belonging when we understand the obstacles or barriers to belonging.
Four Steps to Find a Sustainable Financial Path
How to go forward when needs outpace funding
Why Remarkable Boards Focus on Equity and Justice
How do we build a world in which all people can thrive?
Why Informal Practices Matter So Much More Than You Think
Most of us want to understand how we work together and how we can improve our shared work.
What Formal Practices Can - and Can’t do for Board Meetings
To create inclusive, impactful board meetings, you should include those formal structures such as Meeting Agreements. They set the board’s work in the right direction.
Three steps for inclusive, impactful board meetings
How long DOES it take to design one board meeting?
Six Steps to Recruit Diverse Nonprofit Board Members and Embrace Equity and Inclusion
Have you embarked on these six steps?
11 Benefits of an Effective Retreat Facilitator
The benefits of working with a trained retreat facilitator include clarity, energy and alignment at the end of the process.
Start strategic planning through resource allocation
The first step to strategic planning is assessing your time, money and questions!
Lessons From a Cross-Racial Team About Building Belonging
What should boards do once they recognize that their practices and cultures are out-of-sync with new realities?
Nonprofit Board Strategic Planning Retreats: 7 Tips to Make Them Remarkable and Impactful
Seven principles that The Ross Collective uses to design and lead impactful strategic planning retreats
How one organization worked through valuing access AND participation
We’re at a moment of hard choices with no clear answers.
For Productive Meetings, Name What’s in the Room
When I design any meeting or presentation, a first question is, “What is in the room right now?”
How one organization made the shift to a more equitable board
“As soon as we had new perspectives on the board, we started coming up with new ideas about how to approach our work and our impact in completely different ways. The shift was really palpable across our whole organization. I can’t recommend putting in the time and investment enough. It was really so powerful.”