This week, I’m doing something a little different.

It’s summer—and let’s be honest—we don’t need more noise or a bunch of new content right now.

Instead, I’ve pulled together six hand-picked episodes to help you make the most of these summer months.

Think: focus, reset, and space to prepare for the rest of the year.

You can grab the playlist at brookerichiebabbage.com/summerresetplaylist or text SUMMER to 66866!

Whether you’re slowing down, catching up, or gearing up, these quick listens are here to help you lead with more clarity and less overwhelm.

So grab what you need, leave the rest, and enjoy your Summer Reset.

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Accelerator, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations that want a smart, powerful playbook for taking their growing organization to the next level.

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Mid-year always feels like it should be a breather... but somehow, it’s not. If you’re feeling foggy, stretched thin, or stuck in reactive mode right now—you are not alone. This episode is all about decision fatigue, that sneaky mental exhaustion that piles up without us noticing. I’m breaking down why this happens (especially mid-year) and sharing three simple, practical strategies nonprofit leaders can use to lighten the load. These are tools I use with my coaching clients—and myself—to protect clarity, energy, and focus for the second half of the year.

🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why mid-year is a prime danger zone for decision fatigue
• How to set default decisions to reduce overwhelm
• Simple mindset shifts that make your to-do list lighter (without ignoring what matters)

💡 Key Takeaways:

1. Decision fatigue is structural, not personal. It’s not about being bad at leadership—it’s how the brain works.
2. Defaults and rules protect your mental energy. Remove recurring micro-decisions before they drain you.
3. Narrow your time horizon. Zoom in from big, overwhelming goals to the next right step.

🔧 Step-by-Step Framework to Reduce Decision Fatigue:

1. Design Default Decisions:
   • Turn anything you do more than twice into a default.
   • Examples: Assign writing days, set standing meeting cadences, or use the same reflection questions after every event.
2. Set Compassionate Rules:
   • Pre-decide boundaries to eliminate repetitive mental negotiations.
   • Examples: No emails after 7 p.m., “If it’s not in the budget, it’s not on the table,” or “I only say yes to things that strengthen our funding pipeline.”
3. Shrink Your Time Horizon:
   • Stop solving the whole year and just solve today—or the next step.
   • Example: Instead of fixing the staff burnout problem completely, commit to enforcing 6 p.m. log-off times for two weeks.

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Accelerator, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations that want a smart, powerful playbook for taking their growing organization to the next level.

Connect with me!

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Are your board members nodding along… but not really moving in sync with your priorities? In this episode, I break down why that misalignment happens even after you’ve clarified goals—and what you can do to fix it. Whether you're launching a new initiative, setting annual goals, or trying to get real traction on fundraising, I share three powerful moves that shift board engagement from passive to activated.

We’ll talk about what truly motivates people (hint: it’s not a list of KPIs), how to use pushback as a strategic tool, and how to build real ownership—before your plans stall out. If you’ve ever felt like you’re dragging your board along for the ride, this one’s for you.

🔑 Listen in for three practical moves you can make this week to drive alignment.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why board members feel disconnected from even the clearest goals—and how to reframe it
• What to say (and what to avoid) when sharing your priorities with your board
• How to turn resistance into insight and ownership into momentum

3 Key Takeaways:

• Start with shared motivation: Your board will act when they see their “why” in your goals.
• Resistance isn’t rejection—it’s feedback. Use it to deepen clarity and connection.
• Ownership builds buy-in. The earlier you invite it, the stronger your momentum.

The 3 Moves to Align Your Board:

1. Start with a Shared Pain Point -- Frame your goals around challenges your board already cares about. Don’t just announce priorities—connect them to things like burnout, mission drift, or unrealized impact. Ask, “What does meaningful progress look like for you this year?”
2. Treat Resistance as Useful Data -- When board members push back, dig deeper. Ask what’s behind their hesitation—often, it’s fear of unrealistic expectations or lack of clarity. Address concerns early and openly to reduce silent disengagement.
3. Distribute Ownership Early -- Give board members a meaningful role in the work. Don’t just ask for “help”—ask what they want to steward. Invite them into shaping the process, and let trusted peers share why the work matters.

Resources Mentioned:

🎧 Board Activation Blueprint

A free, 3-part private audio micro-training to help you turn your board into a motivated, strategic team. 👉🏾 Grab it here

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Accelerator, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations that want a smart, powerful playbook for taking their growing organization to the next level.

Connect with me!

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As your nonprofit grows, it’s easy to overlook the behind-the-scenes systems that keep everything running. In this episode, I unpack why scaling isn’t just about doing more—it’s about building smarter systems that can support your growth without burning you out. I walk through the three stages of infrastructure evolution (Organic → Intentional → Systematized), and offer real talk on why the first transition is often the hardest. If you’re still relying on memory, manual workarounds, or Slack check-ins to keep your programs running, this one’s for you.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The 3 distinct phases of infrastructure evolution—and what they look like in practice
• Why most growing teams hit a wall with systems
• How to begin systematizing without losing the heart of your mission

Key takeaways:

• You can’t scale what only lives in your head.
• Systematizing is a leadership act, not a corporate one.
• One broken workflow fixed each month can transform your org in a year.

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Accelerator, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations that want a smart, powerful playbook for taking their growing organization to the next level.

Connect with me!

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As your nonprofit grows, your leadership style has to evolve — fast. In this episode, I share the mindset shifts and systems you need to lead effectively at scale without burning out or micromanaging.

I break down the three key levers that help you trade control for clarity and oversight. You’ll learn how to set up a "leadership cockpit" so you can stay focused on the big picture, trust your team, and stay aligned with your mission as complexity increases. This is one of the most common — and emotionally tricky — transitions nonprofit leaders face. I’ll walk you through what it really looks like to lead when you’re no longer touching every part of the work.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to replace control with high-level oversight as your team grows
• What to include in your leadership dashboard to stay focused
• Why aligning on operational values is key to scaling without chaos

Key Takeaways:

1. Leadership at scale is about narrowing your focus, not expanding it.
2. Operational values must guide decisions across the team—even when you’re not in the room.
3. Dashboards, OKRs, and clear priorities help you lead strategically instead of reactively.

The 3 Core Levers for Leading at a Higher Altitude:

1. Decision-Making Alignment
   • Embed clear operational values across every level of the org
   • Define what “good” looks like in real behavior
   • Don’t ask for post-decision updates — build alignment that leads to the right decisions
2. Programmatic Oversight via Outcomes
   • Set clear, narrow priorities everyone can articulate
   • Establish measurable team-wide and individual goals
   • Use OKRs to track progress without monitoring tasks
3. Information Flow That Serves the CEO Role
   • Eliminate noise: don’t attend every meeting or get every update
   • Design meeting cadences and reports that elevate key signals
   • Surface risks, check for alignment, and trust your team to manage the details

Resource Mentioned: Delegation Ladder

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Accelerator, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations that want a smart, powerful playbook for taking their growing organization to the next level.

Connect with me!

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In this final episode of my Design Shift mini-series, I’m diving into one of the most overlooked—but most essential—parts of organizational growth: making your changes stick. Because if a shift only lives in your energy or your head, it’s not structural—it’s temporary. And when growth brings pressure, anything temporary falls apart.

So today, we’re talking about how to lock in the meaningful shifts you’ve made, so your nonprofit can grow without unraveling.

You’ll learn a simple, three-part process to keep your shifts from fading, and turn new ways of working into the way you work. Let’s make sure your progress doesn’t slide back into the status quo.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why meaningful shifts need structure—not just motivation—to last
• A 3-step method to embed change into your nonprofit’s operations
• How to turn clarity into habits your whole team can follow

Key takeaways:

1. Shifts fade unless they’re built into your infrastructure.
2. Systems, documentation, and rhythms are the glue for sustained growth.
3. Real change becomes muscle memory through repetition and visibility.

Resources Mentioned:

• 🔍 STRONG Quiz
  → A diagnostic tool to help you identify where your nonprofit is absorbing pressure and what kind of structural support you need next.
• 🚀 Next Level Nonprofit Program
  → A high-touch coaching program for organizations with a $750K+ budget ready to make core design shifts with expert support.

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Accelerator, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations that want a smart, powerful playbook for taking their growing organization to the next level.

Connect with me!

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If you've ever looked at your nonprofit and thought, “Where do I even start?”—this episode is for you. When we notice how much weight we're personally carrying—systems that rely on our memory, gaps in structure—it can be overwhelming. But you don’t have to fix everything overnight.

In this episode, I share a clear, low-stress method to start redesigning your organization from the inside out. Using my STRONG Framework, I’ll help you focus on one pillar, ask one smart question, and take one powerful next step. Because small structural shifts—done right—build long-term stability. You’ll walk away with clarity, not another to-do list.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to use the STRONG Framework to spot and fix design gaps in your nonprofit.
• Why focusing on one structural shift at a time creates lasting change.
• Specific, low-lift actions you can take this week to reduce overwhelm and increase clarity.

Key Takeaways:

1. You don’t need to overhaul your organization—just shift one pillar at a time.
2. Systems should carry the weight, not your memory or energy.
3. Alignment, not acceleration, is the goal.

Step-by-Step: How to Use the STRONG Framework

1. S — Strategy: Ask “Is it clear what matters most right now?” → Set 1–3 visible strategic priorities.
2. T — Tools: Ask “Where are we relying on memory/manual work?” → Document one repeatable task.
3. R — Resources: Ask “Do we have a plan to fund our plan?” → Align one priority with funding.
4. O — Team: Ask “Who is holding what—and is it sustainable?” → Clarify one team member’s core responsibilities.
5. N — Network: Ask “Are we carrying this alone?” → Activate one advisor, partner, or board member.
6. G — Governance: Ask “Who decides what?” → Clarify decision-making for one key area.

Pick just one to start. That’s how resilient organizations are built—one smart move at a time.

Resources Mentioned:

STRONG Quiz – Take the free quiz to identify your nonprofit’s biggest structural gap and get tailored steps to fix it. (Add actual link here)

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Accelerator, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations that want a smart, powerful playbook for taking their growing organization to the next level.

Connect with me!

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You’re juggling a million things and trying to keep your organization running smoothly — but what if the real issues you’re facing aren’t random? In this episode, I introduce you to the STRONG Framework — the six foundational pillars of a resilient nonprofit — and show you how to identify where your organization might be structurally out of sync.

If you’ve ever asked, “What’s really going wrong here?” this is the clarity you’ve been looking for.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• A high-level breakdown of the STRONG Framework I use with all my nonprofit clients
• How to spot which part of your organization is absorbing pressure it wasn’t built to carry
• Why resilience starts with diagnosis — not doing more

3 Key Takeaways:

1. Structural issues cause chronic organizational pain — and they’re fixable.
2. Not everything needs to be fixed at once. One shift at a time is powerful.
3. Diagnosing problems gives you clarity and control — not overwhelm.

Step-by-Step: The STRONG Framework Explained

S — Strategic Clarity
Are you aligned around a clear North Star? Misalignment here shows up as team overwhelm, scattered priorities, and disengaged stakeholders.

T — Team & Ownership
Are roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority clearly defined? A deficit here leads to bottlenecks, dropped balls, and over-reliance on you.

R — Resources
Is your funding sustainable and aligned with your growth? Constant feast-or-famine fundraising points to a Revenue Deficit.

O — Operations
Do your systems support efficiency and scale? If your team is stuck reinventing the wheel or bogged down in manual tasks, this pillar needs work.

N — Networked Capacity
Are you leveraging advisors, partners, and your broader ecosystem — or carrying the mission alone?

G — Governance
Is your board engaged at the right level? Both micromanagement and disengagement signal a Governance Deficit.

👉 Take note of where your organization may be absorbing strain in these six areas. You’re not supposed to fix them all. Just start with one.

Resources Mentioned:

• 📲 Text STRONG to 66866 – Get my free STRONG Assessment to diagnose your top structural challenge.
• Stay tuned for the next episode – I’ll walk you through the “1 Shift Method” to help you decide where to focus first.

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Accelerator, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations that want a smart, powerful playbook for taking their growing organization to the next level.

Connect with me!

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• YouTube