Learning for Good | L&D Solutions and Leadership Development for Nonprofits
As nonprofit learning and development leaders, we want a seat at the table. We want to be viewed as true business partners who can help solve problems. We want to create meaningful learning solutions that fit in the flow of work and yield real results for the organization and for the staff.
That's why in this podcast, we will not only explore instructional design and leadership development best practices, but we will also explore change management, belonging, and influence - helping you build the case for the solutions your organization needs so you can show up confidently in conversations with other senior leaders, subject matter experts, staff, and partners.
If we haven't met yet, I'm Heather, and I’ve been in your shoes. I'm a learning and development consultant and the founder and principal consultant at Skill Masters Market. Before starting Skill Masters Market, I worked for a large national nonprofit where I led learning and development leadership initiatives.
I know what it’s like to need to develop your staff quickly and effectively, and to build the relationships and cut through the organizational layers to be successful. With an eye for the larger strategy and the creative design process, I've created hundreds of learning experiences - in-person, self-paced, and virtual classroom - and have worked with dozens of leaders and their staff to help them achieve their organization’s professional development goals.
So if you're ready to bust through the barriers and start creating behavior change in your nonprofit, this podcast is for you. Let's dive in. It's Learning for Good.
Nonprofit Management | Leadership Training | Leadership Development | Staff Management | Change Management | Instructional Design | Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Learn more: www.skillmastersmarket.com
Connect with me: www.linkedin.com/in/heather-burright
Schedule a call: https://bit.ly/3GQT6Yg
Episodes
198 episodes
The Hidden Cost of Reactive Learning in Nonprofits
Does your learning and development team spend more time responding to requests than shaping where your organization is headed?In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with L&D leaders Kamaria Scott, Rachel Platt, and Yogi Mu...
When to Choose Coaching as Your Leadership Development Solution with Melody Lam
In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with nonprofit leader Melody Lam to explore how she built a coaching culture by training first-time managers to coach.Coaching sounds like the obvious solution when new managers struggle t...
How to Make Learning Last: Designing for Workplace Behavior Change
Why does your team go right back to their old habits the week after training ends?In this episode of Learning for Good, I break down how nonprofit leaders can design training that leads to lasting workplace behavior change instead of a s...
Learning IS Strategy but Some Learning Teams Stay Stuck in Reactive Mode. Here's Why.
Does your L&D team spend most of its time responding to urgent training requests instead of shaping strategy?In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with Mark Nilles and Scot Vessell, two experienced learning and development...
How to Align Learning with Data with Nonprofit HR Leader Wilson Kirkpatrick
Do you have employee engagement data sitting in a survey report with no plan for turning it into action?In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with Wilson Kirkpatrick, Director of People Operations at Waterford.org, to talk abo...
Trying to Change Behavior? One Missing Element from Your Training
Your staff already know what to do and how to do it. So why are they still not doing it?In this episode of Learning for Good, I break down why explaining the why is one of the simplest and most overlooked workplace behavior change strate...
10 Questions Every Strategic Learning Leader Should Be Asking
In this episode of Learning for Good, I share 10 questions strategic learning leaders can ask to move beyond content creation and into real organizational impact, using learning and development strategies rooted in behavior change and performan...
What Strategic Partnerships Look Like in Learning & Development with Mark Nilles
Many nonprofit learning and development professionals know their work matters, but still find themselves executing requests rather than shaping solutions.In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with global learning and developme...
Why Your Nonprofit Training Isn't Working: 5 Factors Preventing Workplace Behavior Change
You invested time and resources into staff training and development, but your team still isn't applying what they learned. Why? Many nonprofit leaders focus heavily on what employees need to learn and how they should learn it. While those eleme...
Learning and Growth for Learning Leaders with Dr. Luke Hobson
What does it really take to grow as a learning leader? In this episode of Learning for Good, I sit down with instructional design expert Dr. Luke Hobson to explore how learning professionals can build confidence, strengthen influenc...
What Proof of Impact Really Looks Like in Training
What does proof of impact really look like in nonprofit learning and development? In this episode of Learning for Good, I break down how nonprofit leaders can measure staff training and development in a way that actually connects le...
A Look at Career Mapping: Who, What, When, and How with Nonprofit Leader Melanie Gonzalez
What does it take to build high-performing nonprofit teams that stay engaged, grow their skills, and strengthen organizational impact? In this episode, I sit down with Melanie Gonzalez, Chief People Officer at the Behavioral Science...
The Mindset that Separates Strategic L&D Leaders from Order Takers
If you want to elevate your learning and development role from an order taker to a strategic partner, it starts with something many leaders overlook: mindset. In this episode, I explore how the way you think about your role in learn...
Mentorship Programs for Nonprofits: How to Develop the Next Generation of Leaders with Larcy Douglas
Mentorship is a powerful yet underutilized tool in nonprofits, and in this episode, we’re diving into how to operationalize it for real organizational impact. I sit down with Larcy Douglas, director at Common Power, to explore how m...
Why Good Training Takes Time
Good training takes time, and in a world where AI can generate content in seconds, that truth is more important than ever. In this episode, we unpack why effective learning and development strategies in nonprofits can’t be rushed, e...
How One Nonprofit Trains Its Volunteer Workforce with Jim Farmer
Training volunteers is one of the most complex and overlooked areas of nonprofit training and development. In this episode, I had the privilege of talking with the VP of Training at For the Children, Jim Farmer, to unpack how organi...
5 Common Concerns About Training (and How to Address Them)
If you’ve ever struggled to gain buy-in for nonprofit leadership development, you’re not alone. Many nonprofit leaders hesitate to invest in training, not because they don’t care, but because they have real concerns about time, cost, and impact...
Custom AI Agents for Learning? A Look at One Nonprofit's Innovative Approach with Jorge Perez
AI is rapidly reshaping nonprofit leadership development, and organizations that embrace it now will be better positioned to build stronger teams, scale impact, and drive consistent performance. In this episode, I sit down with the ...
5 Practical Post-Training Strategies to Make Learning Stick
Too often, staff training and development ends when the workshop does. But as I share in this episode of Learning for Good, training alone rarely leads to lasting results. Without the right systems in place, even the most engaging learning expe...
Nonprofit L&D Leaders: Your Role is Much Bigger Than Delivering Training
In this episode of Learning for Good, I’m sharing a heartfelt message for nonprofit learning and development professionals who want their work to drive real impact, not just course completions. If you’ve ever felt like a “training f...
Inside Look: How One Nonprofit Is Building Its Leadership Development Pipeline with Jeremy Bouman
While leadership transitions are inevitable, there are too many organizations that aren’t prepared for this eventuality. In this episode, I’ve got Jeremy Bouman with me to explore how nonprofit leadership development and intentional...
The Value of Executive Coaching in Nonprofits with Chris Wong
As learning and development leaders, we have lots of tools in our toolkit, and when others in our organization come to us with a challenge or an opportunity, we don't always have to point to training.Coaching is one alternative option t...
What Happens When L&D Stops Being Reactive and Starts Driving Strategy
As nonprofit L&D leaders, we often sit and wait for our stakeholders to approach us with their demands, and only then react to their needs. Unfortunately, this isn't always conducive to creating change.But what would happen if we shi...
How One Nonprofit Used Habit Stacking to Improve Feedback Skills with Amy Glover
Motivation is fickle. At the end of the day, even with the best learning experience and high motivation, people are going back into their workplace, and when you're back in your day-to-day, it's easy to fall back on a habit. So, how do you act...
Why It's Your Nonprofit's Culture (Not Compliance) That Drives Consistent Performance
In your experience as a nonprofit L&D leader, has telling people what to do and forcing them to comply ever led to the behavior change you were looking for? Unfortunately, this doesn't work for two-year-olds, 52-year-olds, or those who work...