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Mission Forward with Carrie FoxMission Forward: An award-winning podcast for communicators on a mission. Author: TruStory FM
Mission Forward: An award-winning podcast for communicators on a mission. Hosted by social impact expert and B Corp leader Carrie Fox, each episode of Mission Forward explores the power of communications. With just the right mix of practical and thought-provoking content, we take on the issues that matter to you, and that support your work as a communicator for change. Together, we talk through topics that youre likely experiencing right now: from how to tackle tough conversations; to how to best challenge stereotypes; to how we can build bridges across the issues that divide us. If youre working to become a more inclusive and thoughtful communicator, theres nothing holding you backexcept you. About Season 11 What does it mean to stand at the threshold of change? To face a door that is both closing and opening at the same time? In Season 11 of Mission Forward, Carrie Fox invites us into that liminal spacethe sacred and often unsettling pause between hello and goodbye. It is here, in the transitions, where the most important work of leadershipand of lifeoften takes place. This season, youll meet people who have walked away from stability in pursuit of something more true. Youll hear from those who said yes before they were ready, and in doing so, discovered new strength. And youll learn from leaders who chose to stay rooted, practicing presence and commitment in a culture that prizes constant movement. These are stories not just about change, but about how we communicate through itabout the clarity, courage, and care required when our words and actions mark turning points. Because goodbyes are never just endings. Hellos are never just beginnings. And the space between them? Thats where possibility lives. Hello. Goodbye. And the Space Between. * About the Host (https://www.missionforward.us/about-carrie) * Listen to Past Episodes (https://www.missionforward.us/episodes) Language: en Genres: Business, Marketing, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Insights on Purpose with Stacy Palmer and Brian Fox
Episode 1
Thursday, 5 February, 2026
What if the defining feature of nonprofit leadership right now isn’t burnout or bravery, but a kind of double vision—an ability to stare straight at worsening conditions and still believe, perhaps stubbornly, that impact can grow?As we launch season twelve of Mission Forward, Carrie Fox sits down with Stacy Palmer (CEO of the Chronicle of Philanthropy) and Brian Fox (Chief Strategy Officer of Mission Partners) to unpack the 2026 Insights on Purpose™ Report, built from interviews and a national survey of nonprofit and foundation leaders. The numbers land with a thud: nearly everyone says the environment is harder than it was a year ago, and yet large majorities still think their organizations can increase impact over the next five years. This is not optimism in the syrupy greeting-card sense. It’s optimism as a job requirement—paired with a private ledger of worries about cash on hand, staff departures, restructuring, and the creeping sense that “resilience” is something we describe more easily than we actually feel.So this week, we look at what nonprofit and foundation leaders are really carrying right now—what they’ll say out loud, what they’ll admit in private, and why the gap between those two versions matters. This is the story of confidence and strain living in the same institutional body. About “resilience” as something everyone invokes, but fewer people can define in a way that survives contact with payroll, boards, and the calendar. About why planning feels harder when the ground won’t stop shifting—and why the answer probably isn’t a bigger plan, but a different relationship to planning altogether.If you’re leading an organization, funding one, serving on a board, or simply trying to understand why so many leaders sound calm while feeling anything but, this episode gives you a lens—and a few powerful questions worth keeping close. The report, in their telling, isn’t a stack of charts. It’s a set of voices—unfiltered—trying to say what’s happening before the sector pays for it in closures, mergers, and communities left without the organizations they rely on.Our great thanks to the Chronicle of Philanthropy for their partnership in bringing this report to life. We hope you’ll take the time to read and share it broadly. (00:00) - Welcome to Mission Forward (02:30) - The Importance of the Report (03:41) - Doing the Research (13:51) - Risks Ahead in the Demand Experience (18:39) - Foundation Optimism (21:04) - Strategic Planning (23:54) - The AI Divide (27:42) - Looking Ahead
