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We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

721. Four Leaders on Mergers, Burnout, and Radical Honesty with Funders - Stacy Huston, Lindsey Fuller, Tammy Tibbetts, and Becky Straw

July 6 · 32 min · 23.7 MB
0:00-32:46

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The traditional nonprofit playbook is full of defaults nobody voted for: merge only when you're desperate, expect your team to run on empty, soften your mission to stay safe, and treat funders like they're doing you a favor. At the We Are For Good Summit, four leaders sat down to throw all of that out. 🧠

Hosted by Stacy Huston, CEO of SixDegrees.org and a social impact strategist working at the intersection of storytelling, influence, and action, this conversation brings together Tammy Tibbetts (She's the First), Lindsey Fuller (The Teaching Well), and Becky Straw (The Adventure Project) — three leaders who each named a default they've refused to accept and shared exactly what they did instead.

In this episode, you'll hear:

  • Why a merger can be a strategic first move instead of a white flag — and the single question Tammy asked herself to know She's the First was making the right call
  • How The Teaching Well retained 100% of its funders three years running by being radically honest about what its team actually needs
  • The case for treating identity as an asset, not a liability — even while peer orgs were scrubbing their websites in 2025

You'll walk away with permission — and a few tactical first steps — to question the defaults that are quietly draining your organization. 🩵

Episode Highlights:

  • Three nonprofit myths busted (1:46)
  • Mergers as a strategic first choice (5:28)
  • One tactical first step toward exploring a merger (8:35)
  • The dignity of work: flipping the aid model (10:23)
  • Doubling down on storytelling after the USAID gap (12:40)
  • Identity as asset: leading with Sankofa (14:20)
  • Retaining 100% of funders through radical honesty (16:26)
  • Comfort as complacency (18:09)
  • The "one good thing": self-care and collective care (24:21)

Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/721

Resources Mentioned:

  • SixDegrees.org — Stacy Huston's organization, described as "a nonprofit for nonprofits," bringing organizations together as a collective force
  • She's the First — Tammy Tibbetts's organization putting girls front and center worldwide
  • Girl Rising — She's the First's merger partner; the unified brand going forward, led by CEO Christina Lowery
  • The Teaching Well — Lindsey Fuller's retention-focused organization solving the school staffing crisis
  • The Adventure Project — Becky Straw's organization creating good jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • La Piana Consulting — the firm that "wrote the textbook" on nonprofit mergers; cited for the finding that 92% of surveyed merged organizations called it a success a year later

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