Embodied leadership for nonprofits with LeeAnn Mallorie
Release Date: 06/03/2025
Nonprofit Mission: Impact
Strategic planning at its best offers nonprofit leaders a way to create clarity, alignment, and shared direction in an increasingly uncertain environment. Unfortunately some have experienced strategic planning processes that felt like a really heavy lift—or even found the process and the resulting plan constraining. Episode Highlights 00:03:00 – Common fears and misconceptions about strategic planning 00:05:00 – How strategic planning creates alignment and shared direction 00:07:38 – Planning in times of uncertainty and the reality of disruption 00:09:00 – The value of...
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How can nonprofits use podcasting strategically to strengthen community engagement, support learning and evaluation, and build long-term relationships? In episode 146 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton and Andrea Klunder, founder of Creative Imposter Studios discuss: how nonprofits can use podcasting intentionally—not as a shiny communications add-on that fizzles after the original project champion leaves the organization, but as a tool that solves real organizational problems. How podcasting is a flexible medium that can support learning, evaluation, community...
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The nonprofit sector is under growing pressure, and this episode explores what’s at stake while making the case for its essential role in filling gaps, strengthening democracy, building community, and driving social change—grounded in a personal story of impact through The Arc of Montgomery County. In this special Podcasthon episode, Nonprofit Mission: Impact host Carol Hamilton situates the nonprofit sector within a broader moment of political and social pressure, naming both the challenges facing the sector and the essential role nonprofits play in society. She: - reflects on the...
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Too many nonprofit and association conferences and convenings are built around logistics and tradition rather than purpose and participation. In episode 144 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Lee Gimpel challenge nonprofit and association leaders to rethink how convenings, conferences, and member events are designed. They discuss: why too many gatherings feel like a heavy lift that fails to deliver connection, energy, or real value. why traditional conference formats fall short—and what leaders can do differently. How effective events start with purpose,...
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People-centered HR isn’t a luxury—it’s essential. Learn how nonprofit leaders can build equitable, transparent, and humane people practices that strengthen their organizations, even amid uncertainty and limited resources. In episode 143 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton speaks with Megan Rolfe about: what it really means to practice people-centered HR in nonprofit and social-change organizations—especially small teams navigating limited resources, rising uncertainty, and growing demands for equity. reframing HR not as a compliance or risk-management function, but...
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Nonprofit organization design is about how an organization works: how decisions get made, how power flows, how people collaborate across boundaries, and how strategy actually gets translated into day-to-day action. In episode 142, of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and Jeanne Bell dig deeply into why organization design—often overlooked or reduced to org charts—is actually a missing discipline nonprofits need to truly operationalize their strategy and values. They discuss: How nonprofits are too often stuck in false dichotomies (flat vs. hierarchical), Why too many...
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Polarization isn’t just a political issue—it’s a leadership challenge, and this episode examines how nonprofit leaders can respond with presence rather than reactivity. In this “Learning Out Loud" episode of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton and guest Danielle Marshall explore how nonprofit leaders can navigate today’s polarized environment with greater awareness, empathy, and intention. Together they: Explore the tension between “winning” difficult conversations and staying grounded, clarifying purpose, and choosing ‘right relationship’ over being right. ...
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As nonprofit leaders move into 2026, uncertainty no longer feels episodic—it feels constant. Scenario planning offers nonprofit leaders a practical way to navigate uncertainty by shifting from reactive decision-making to clearer priorities, stronger alignment, and more confident, values-aligned choices—even when the future is unpredictable. In this episode of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton names the fatigue, overwhelm, and decision paralysis many leaders are carrying after this past year of heightened disruption. She introduces scenario planning as a practical, grounding...
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Explore how nonprofit leaders can cultivate grounded presence, clarify their sphere of control, and stay anchored in mission and values while leading through ongoing uncertainty and disruption. As nonprofit leaders continue navigating unprecedented levels of uncertainty, this “learning out loud” episode of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton and guest Danielle Marshall offers a grounded, human-centered exploration of how leaders can steady themselves—and their organizations—amid chaos. Drawing on lived experience, strategic frameworks, and resilience practices, the...
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Strategy for nonprofits is not a plan to perfect but a human practice—built through care, curiosity, and intentional choices in the face of uncertainty. As the year draws to a close, episode 138 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact brings together reflections from a wide range of nonprofit leaders and thinkers, all responding to one central question: What should nonprofit leaders ask themselves to be more strategic? Across topics as varied as crisis management, equity, careers, evaluation, organizational design, culture, and innovation, a clear throughline emerges—strategy is deeply human...
info_outlineIn episode 124 of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, Carol Hamilton and LeeAnn Mallorie discuss about navigating leadership from a place of embodiment, resilience, and grace. They explore:
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how tuning into the body can help leaders make better choices, weather organizational turbulence, and come through crisis with renewed purpose.
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How our effectiveness and influence are deeply tied to how we relate to ourselves—and that honoring our inner wisdom is not a luxury, but a necessity in today’s climate of uncertainty and change.
Episode highlights:
What Is Embodiment and Why It Matters [08:15]
Resilience in a Time of Chaos [11:15]
The Power of Letting Go [13:59]
Balancing Drive with Surrender [17:15]
Grace as Leadership Range [19:26].
Leaders Getting in Their Own Way [22:15]
Co-Creating with What Is [23:26]
Feeling First, Then Acting [26:58]
Leading Through Uncertainty [24:01]
Advice for Those in Transition [29:16]
A Strategic Shift: Collective Leadership [35:15]
Guest BIO:
LeeAnn Mallorie, CEO of Guts & Grace Leadership, began her career as an executive coach in 2006, working with leaders and teams from around the globe. Yet she soon found something was missing—the body. This led her on a personal journey of physical, mental, and spiritual healing, to eventually embrace the feminine side of leadership. Committed to walking her talk, she brings these lessons back to her clients in the corporate, non-profit and government sectors, with surprisingly positive results. Today LeeAnn specializes in bringing feminine wisdom and diverse cultural values into business, as keystone to solving some of our world’s stickiest problems. Using practical embodiment tools, she helps attendees bridge the gap between the hard-driving logical mind and the deeper wisdom of the soul.
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