The nonprofit sector is running on a broken hiring system and it is silently destroying mission driven organisations from the inside out. Most leaders are hired to check boxes, onboarded like an afterthought, and handed a role with zero clarity about what change is actually supposed to look like. The cost is not just financial. It is cultural, strategic, and deeply human.
With over 30 years across nonprofit leadership, higher education, corporate philanthropy, and executive search, J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D., Director of Executive Search at Cooper Coleman LLC, has seen exactly where organisations lose the plot on leadership and what it genuinely takes to get it right.
This conversation with Marla Moody is a masterclass for anyone serious about building thriving, values led, high performing nonprofit teams.
🎬 The Hidden Truth About Nonprofit Hiring Failures
Why desperation hires and box checking are quietly setting organisations back years
🎬 Diversity as a Strategic Advantage Not a Checkbox
How experiential, cultural, and ideological diversity drives real organisational outcomes
🎬 The Onboarding Gap That Breaks New Leaders
Why the most critical 90 days are also the most neglected in the sector
🎬 Succession Planning and the Leadership Loyalty Shift
What long tenured executives and younger talent both need organisations to understand right now
You can get in touch with J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D. here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmichaeldurnilphd/
Website: https://www.coopercoleman.com/

If you are a nonprofit executive, board member, HR leader, or organisational development professional navigating leadership transitions, talent strategy, or building cultures where high performers actually stay, this episode is your roadmap.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of What Works!
- Marla and the What Works Podcast team :)

Are you a Leader who would benefit from Leaders encouraging Leaders, Leave a comment where we can find you of go over to https://www.skool.com/value-based-leadership-8377 and join the community there.

Connect with me:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachingwithmarla/

#whatworkspodcast #nonprofitleadership #missiondriven #operations #scalingimpact #nonprofitmanagement #leadershipthatinspires #nonprofitexcellence #socialimpact #teambuilding #burnoutprevention

#whatworkspodcast #nonprofitleadership #missiondriven #operations #scalingimpact #nonprofitmanagement #leadershipthatinspires #nonprofitexcellence #socialimpact #teambuilding #burnoutprevention
WhatWorks is a bold and insightful podcast for non-profit leaders who want to go deeper than surface-level conversations. Hosted by Marla Moody, a seasoned operations executive with decades of global experience, the show uncovers what truly makes mission-driven organizations thrive. From scaling systems to building resilient teams and fighting burnout, WhatWorks goes behind the scenes of the world’s most impactful non-profits.

The nonprofit world has a broken system nobody wants to admit , passionate people are being burned out, under directed, and blindsided by leadership gaps that quietly destroy impact. Robby Burroughs, former Managing Director at NDN Collective, Pomo tribal member, college professor, and coach, pulls back the curtain on the uncomfortable reality of working inside mission driven organizations.

From facilitating indigenous land back across Turtle Island and building circular revenue models that fund real change, to midnight phone calls and feedback with no direction, Robby shares what nonprofit culture gets dangerously wrong about leadership, burnout, and sustainability.

This conversation is raw, real, and packed with frameworks that actually work — from protecting your energy like a non negotiable to why weekly check ins transform entire teams. If you lead people, fund causes, or fight for communities, this episode will shift how you think about impact for good.

Connect with Robby Burroughs here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robby-burroughs-291234b9/

NDN Collective: https://ndncollective.org

We hope you enjoyed this episode of What Works!
- Marla and the What Works Podcast team :)

Are you a Leader who would benefit from Leaders encouraging Leaders, Leave a comment where we can find you of go over to https://www.skool.com/value-based-leadership-8377 and join the community there.

Connect with me:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachingwithmarla/

#whatworkspodcast #nonprofitleadership #missiondriven #operations #scalingimpact #nonprofitmanagement #leadershipthatinspires #nonprofitexcellence #socialimpact #teambuilding #burnoutprevention

#whatworkspodcast #nonprofitleadership #missiondriven #operations #scalingimpact #nonprofitmanagement #leadershipthatinspires #nonprofitexcellence #socialimpact #teambuilding #burnoutprevention
WhatWorks is a bold and insightful podcast for non-profit leaders who want to go deeper than surface-level conversations. Hosted by Marla Moody, a seasoned operations executive with decades of global experience, the show uncovers what truly makes mission-driven organizations thrive. From scaling systems to building resilient teams and fighting burnout, WhatWorks goes behind the scenes of the world’s most impactful non-profits.

Most nonprofit boards are silently killing the very organizations they were built to protect. The uncomfortable reality? It is not a funding problem. It is a governance problem nobody wants to talk about.
25-year C-suite advisor and bestselling author Heather H. Bennett, Partner and Managing Director at Newport LLC, pulls back the curtain on what actually makes a board of directors powerful versus paralyzing. From the hidden value of board networks to the dangerous myth of "give, get, or get off," Heather dismantles outdated board strategies and replaces them with frameworks that actually move missions forward.
Whether you are an executive director drowning in board dysfunction or a leader considering your first board seat, this episode delivers the unfiltered truth about board size, member accountability, term cycles, the board matrix strategy, and why camaraderie is your most underrated governance tool.

Connect with Heather H. Bennett here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-h-bennett/
Listen to her podcast Growth + Exit: https://www.youtube.com/@GrowthplusEXITPodcast
Grab her book "Fun and Fulfilling Careers One Question at a Time" on Amazon
Visit FHSR: https://www.fhsr.org

We hope you enjoyed this episode of What Works!
- Marla and the What Works Podcast team :)