Anna Mottice learned long before she ever stepped into a boardroom that the best performances never happen by accident, they happen by design. Today she leads alumni engagement at OHSU Foundation, quietly rewriting what nonprofit leadership looks like by proving that creativity and data are not rivals fighting for attention, but partners building trust, loyalty and community impact that lasts.

This conversation is a masterclass in leadership psychology, organizational culture and intentional growth for anyone building a mission driven brand.

Connect with Anna Mottice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amottice/
Learn more about OHSU Foundation: https://ohsufoundation.org/

The future belongs to leaders brave enough to hold both.

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.

Sharon Attipoe-Dorcoo, MPH, Ph.D. of TERSHA LLC brings a powerful human centered leadership perspective that challenges transactional thinking and reconnects leadership with culture, relationships, storytelling, humility, and meaningful community impact.

🎯 Storytelling Beyond Data: Turning evidence into experiences people remember
🎯 Culture Shapes Leadership: The narratives leaders carry into every decision
🎯 Ego Meets Humility: The tension every serious leader must navigate
🎯 Leading Through Change: Finding clarity, creativity and purpose in uncertainty

You can get in touch with Sharon Attipoe-Dorcoo here on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonattipoe-dorcoo/
Website:
https://tershallc.com/

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.

Nonprofit growth demands more than funding. Heather Collier, founder and president of Ascend Consulting, brings 18 years of experience helping nonprofits build strategic capacity, strengthen internal systems, and create sustainable community impact.

Heather challenges the idea that bigger is always better. Growth should follow community need, mission alignment, organizational capacity, and the ability to actually deliver. She explains why visibility is not sustainability, why grant chasing can create serious operational strain, and why strategic planning must connect fundraising, communications, programs, staff, and the board.

00:00 Building Nonprofit Growth Around Real Community Needs
10:43 Growth Without Mission Drift Or Resource Strain
12:36 Aligning Strategy Fundraising Communications And Programs
22:59 Building Stronger Teams Through Humble Leadership
26:10 Staff Investment That Prevents Burnout And Turnover
37:20 Preparing Infrastructure Before Nonprofit Growth Accelerates
44:09 Using Organizational Life Cycles To Prioritize Growth

You can get in touch with Heather Collier here on LinkedIn: LinkedIn profile not supplied

Website: http://Ascendconsultingmn.com

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.

Joe Darago left the pulpit to fight a four and a half billion dollar problem: well meaning donors funding orphanages that hurt the very children they want to save. As Executive Director of The Hope Effect, Joe reveals how his organisation moves children out of institutions into real families, and why the nonprofit world needs an abundance mindset paired with fierce stewardship.

🎬 What you will explore:
🎬 The four and a half billion dollar orphanage funding problem
🎬 Building trust with an interpreter across government meetings
🎬 Why clarity took Joe years of failed communication to learn
🎬 What his wife's new business exposed about his own leadership

Built for nonprofit founders, missions minded entrepreneurs, and leaders working across language and culture.

You can get in touch with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joedarago/
Website: https://www.hopeeffect.com/

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.

Kamy Akhavan spent over two decades walking into the most divided rooms in America and leaving with something nobody else could, proof that listening is the most radical act of civic leadership alive today.

Managing Director of the USC Center for Political Future, Kamy has trained elected officials, legislators, and the next generation of civic leaders to navigate political polarization, bipartisanship, and civil discourse with curiosity over combat.

🎙 The Exhausted Majority: America's Silenced Political Middle Ground
🧠 Oxytocin Politics: The Neuroscience That Unlocks Real Listening
🏛 Civic Leadership Built From Radical Discomfort and Growth
💡 Curiosity as Strategy: Bridging Political Divides That Feel Impossible

You can get in touch with Kamy Akhavan here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamyakhavan/
Website: https://dornsife.usc.edu/center-for-political-future/

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.

Matthew Stephens stepped into a nearly 200 year old institution and chose to reimagine what it truly means to serve the living. As President and CEO of Mount Auburn Cemetery, America's first garden cemetery, he is rewriting the rules of legacy nonprofit leadership, nature rooted community healing, and purposeful organisational change one green acre at a time.

🏛 The 200 Year Vision That Quietly Transformed American Public Space
⚖ Shepherding Change Inside a Legacy Nonprofit Under Real Pressure
🌿 Nature as the Most Underrated Leadership Strategy Nobody Is Talking About
🕯 The Invisible Cost of Driving Culture Without Celebrating the Journey

You can get in touch with Matthew Stephens here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-r-stephens/
Website: https://mountauburn.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.

Deanna Wilken turned a seven person volunteer operation into a 128 strong global force spanning 28 countries, and she did it without a single salary line. As Founder and President of Human Rights Research Center (HRRC) and Co-Founder of Unruled Masses, Deanna has built something most leaders only talk about: a team that actually wants to stay.

🎙 The Volunteer Empire: Scaling a 128 Person Mission Driven Global Force
📡 Truth Under Fire: Decoding Misinformation and Disinformation in Real Time
🏗 Operations as Culture: The Human Infrastructure Behind High Impact Nonprofits
🔄 Retention Without Paychecks: The Accountability Framework That Keeps Teams Alive

You can get in touch with Deanna Wilken here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanna-wilken/
Website: https://www.humanrightsresearch.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.

Brad Voss left a successful business career, boarded a plane to Nairobi, and chose the hardest mission of his life, rebuilding futures for street-connected children through Remade.

When Kenya's government mandated the shutdown of every residential care facility in the country, Brad did not fight it. He listened. He researched. And he led a complete reinvention of a 30-year-old organization from institutional care to full family reunification, even before he fully believed it would work.

🏛 The Mandate That Became a Movement
How Kenya's Care Reform Act forced a 30-year nonprofit to rebuild from the ground up
🤝 When the Leader Must Be Led
Why Brad's Kenyan team understood the change before he did and what that unlocked
🌍 Equality of Authority
The cross-cultural trust model rewriting how Western organizations and local leaders actually work together
🐓 One Chicken, One Mother, One Life Transformed
How sustainable family-based solutions create dignity no institution ever could

You can get in touch with Brad Voss here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-voss-1845072/
Website: https://www.remadekenya.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.