Our Blog
You deserve to do work that feeds your heart, mind, and wallet.
Nonprofit leaders, We all understand that donors and foundations want to see where their money is going. And truthfully? When we accept funding, we accept a level of access. But access should never come at the cost of program disruption, interrogation, or client exploitation. S.O.F.T. Leadership ™ requires ethical leadership and that is something different. […]
March is Social Work Month and Women’s History Month. For most of my career, I focused on doing the work – not documenting it. I did my job well, because what else would I do? My work spoke for itself… just not always in rooms I wasn’t in. Over the years, I supervised diverse […]
As we close out Black History Month and near the start Women’s History Month and Social Work Month I’m reminded that I went into social work to become a leader and an entrepreneur. – Community Economic Development I went into social work to build and lead an intergenerational community connecting seniors and young people […]
Innovation as S.O.F.T. Leadership™ in Action Black History isn’t just American history; Black History is innovation history. The infrastructure of modern life — transportation systems, medical advancements, communication technology, public safety, agriculture, and global computing — exists because Black innovators identified problems others overlooked and created solutions the world now depends on. Traffic signals. […]
Self-love in leadership isn’t a feeling — it’s a practice. And in the context of S.O.F.T. Leadership™, it becomes the foundation for sustainable success, not just temporary relief. Why Self-Love Is a Leadership Competency We’ve spent decades learning that leadership is measured by output — hours logged, results delivered, battles survived. But what if […]
February is often framed as a month of love— but rarely the kind women in leadership are taught to practice with themselves. For high-performing leaders, especially Women of Color, self-love has been mischaracterized as indulgence instead of infrastructure. But under S.O.F.T. Leadership™, self-love is essential. It is wise. It is protective. It […]
For years, leadership conversations have framed growth as a move from surviving to thriving. While well‑intentioned, that framing often misses what high‑performing leaders are actually navigating. Many leaders are not struggling because they lack resilience, motivation, or skill. They are navigating success that has been shaped by survival mode—a way of leading that prioritizes […]
I’m happy to share that I was featured on the Revolutionary Social Work Podcast hosted by Christian “Ace” Stettler — a space dedicated to challenging how social work is taught, practiced, and imagined. In this dynamic conversation on macro social work, social work education, and what it takes to create truly meaningful internship and […]
When I teach and talk about S.O.F.T. Leadership™, I’m not asking leaders to abandon rigor, results, or responsibility. I’m asking them to return to what actually works. Here’s how Sesame Street mirrors my S.O.F.T. framework: Strategy: Asking Before Acting On Sesame Street, understanding always comes before instruction. That’s Strategy in S.O.F.T. Leadership™—leading with curiosity […]