Topic: Employee engagement and culture

Impact Kit: Harnessing AI for Social Impact

Impact Kit: Harnessing AI for Social Impact

NationSwell Impact Kits are designed to quickly immerse leaders in highly relevant, actionable, and curated supports for their work in evergreen practice areas. This Impact Kit is focused on harnessing AI for social impact.

The rapid pace of technological transformation is reshaping how organizations operate and how people work. Yet the challenge of driving AI adoption responsibly and equipping workers with the skills, systems, and safeguards to use it effectively, is still unfolding. Organizations that approach this transition thoughtfully have an opportunity to strengthen both their workforce and their impact efforts. When done well, AI can help leaders:

  • Anticipate and adapt to rapid technological and workforce shifts
  • Unlock AI’s benefits while managing risks and unintended consequences
  • Build employee trust, confidence, and capability to work alongside AI
  • Align AI-driven business growth with positive social outcomes
  • Foster a culture of experimentation and innovation
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Five Minutes with… Benevity’s Sona Khosla

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

Corporate purpose leaders have spent the last several years navigating an increasingly complex mix of political pressure, regulatory scrutiny, business demands, and rising expectations from shareholders, employees and communities. For Sona Khosla — Chief Impact Officer at Benevity — that complexity has not diminished the importance of the work, but it has changed what strong leadership looks like.

NationSwell spoke with Khosla about her unlikely path from marketing to impact, the growing need for purpose leaders to pair moral clarity with business fluency, and why adaptability should be understood as a necessary condition for enduring impact.

Here’s what she had to say:

NationSwell: Take us into your world a bit — what brought you to this field? Was there a single moment that catalyzed your interest in social impact? 

Sona Khosla, Chief Impact Officer, Benevity: I would honestly say that most of my career has been accidental. I accidentally ended up in marketing, and spent about 15 years there before I discovered Benevity. I had heard a lot about Benevity and its founder, Bryan de Lottinville, as a rising tech startup in Calgary, but I had no idea what CSR was — I thought it meant customer service representative – so I was clearly walking into new territory when I interviewed for a role at the company.

But I sat across the table from Bryan and felt an instant kinship; after an hour and a half, he offered me the job on the spot. One of his closing questions was, “What is one of your top values?” and I realized I had never been asked that in an interview before. My answer was fairness. I hadn’t realized how much fairness in your personal life is akin to justice at a bigger scale. Bryan lit up and said, “Me too.” It was a meeting of minds. I remember thinking, this is a person I want to work for and a company I want to work for — even though I still have no idea what they do.

Later, while hosting one of our conferences, I heard La Shanda Hurst from Microsoft say, “We may all be competitors in business, but we’re all collaborators in goodness.” In that moment, I thought to myself that impact was a pretty unique place to be and wanted more of it.

A few years later, I moved from marketing into the Chief Impact Officer role and began leading Benevity Impact Labs, whose mission it is to accelerate impact and inclusion through innovation, data insights and community. I found that the collaborative spirit really suits my nature. Working at the ecosystem level is a privilege because you become more than a product to your clients. You become a platform that can fuel impact with greater efficiency for nonprofits and companies. That suits me so much more than being a commercial engine for software.

Ten years in, I’ve realized that this is soul work. This is not just a job, it is a calling. At some level, you have to answer the call — and I did. Now I feel like I’ve found my people.

NationSwell: You came to this work as an outsider. How did you navigate that transition?

Khosla, Benevity: Luckily, I spent my first five or six years at Benevity in marketing, so I had time to learn the field before stepping into the impact role. Even so, I definitely had imposter syndrome. I was suddenly in rooms with people who had master’s degrees in international policy and deep expertise in systems thinking and cross-sector mobilization. I thought, I’m just a marketer — what do I know?

Then I realized the skills I had as a marketer were exactly the skills required to drive behavior change. On the marketing side, you are driving behavior change. In this work, you are driving behavior change for social good. It is still about audience insight, motivation, reward, storytelling, connecting people to something bigger and showing them how they can find belonging. I realized I could bridge those worlds. Those skills were highly transferable—and now they could be used for a greater good.

The other big transition was moving from brand marketing into a lab where data and research are foundational. That has actually been incredibly helpful. I can immerse myself in the data and understand what is happening across the industry without having held every practitioner role myself. I can see what is happening at the ecosystem level, and I’ve learned how to ask good questions of the people in the roles about why it is happening, how it is happening and what dynamics are underneath it.

And as Chief Impact Officer, I’ve also had to do this work for Benevity itself. The standard people hold Benevity to is high because we are literally selling enterprise impact. People expect us to live our values and contribute positively. I have appreciated that high bar, and I’ve learned a lot through it.

NationSwell: How have your strategies or leadership style evolved over time throughout your career?

Khosla, Benevity: I moved from marketing into this role in 2021, after the pandemic and the racial justice movement, when many people still had not returned to the office. I realized how much this work was not merely about running good programs; it was about equity and justice, and that suited me. I had always been an avid reader of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Malcolm X.

Then the conflict in the Middle East escalated in 2023, and many organizations were forced to recalibrate their focus on equity and justice because they recognized how difficult it was to establish a single “right” position. What had been treated as a source of unification was suddenly perceived as a source of risk and division. I was pulled into conversations about discrimination, hate speech and hate groups, and ultimately into policy and ethics.

I don’t think that shift was uncommon. Many people in roles like mine had been running programs and suddenly had to engage with policy, ethics, legal questions and regulatory risk. That only intensified through 2025.

My thinking has rounded out. It began with social impact, then expanded to risk mitigation. Now it is about embedding purpose across the enterprise with a full-spectrum lens: How does it create business value and social impact? How does it support regulatory permission and brand trust? How do you thread those things together so the work delivers maximum value while also managing unexpected risks?

I never imagined I would be in these moral, ethical, policy and legal discussions, but I have found a strange affinity for it. It is challenging, but it requires whole-minded, wholehearted engagement.

NationSwell: What are some of the trends or the evolutions that you are seeing today in 2026, and what should other leaders be preparing for over the next five years?

Khosla, Benevity: We publish an annual trends report called the State of Corporate Purpose. In this year’s research, three-quarters of companies said political and regulatory compliance influenced their strategy. So I know I’m not alone in this—not exactly a pivot, but a real rounding out of how you develop a strategy with those factors in view.

Communications used to be quite broad, but now people in roles like mine are becoming much more discerning and strategic about how they invest and communicate. Last year, 69% of companies changed the way they described their programs publicly, much of that because of legal and regulatory risk.

But the data also showed that corporate giving rose eight points and volunteering reached record levels. In a year when this work was perceived as one of the greatest corporate risks, people in these roles still largely won very difficult internal conversations and continued the work in ways that stand up to scrutiny. To us, purpose prevailed.

Not every conversation was won. Some teams got smaller; some resources were reduced; sixty-five percent of companies changed the programs or nonprofits they funded, and that has real downstream consequences. What we are seeing now is much more thoughtfulness and strategic discernment around communications, nonprofit partnership, and impact storytelling and measurement. Those are the three areas surfacing most strongly in the data.

NationSwell: As leaders navigate uncertainty and scrutiny, what distinguishes the strongest among them?

Khosla, Benevity: Looks can be deceiving. From the outside, it can appear that a company is retreating, but we get exposure to the very difficult decisions these leaders are making and the actual impact they are having in their communities and companies.

The real question is: How does a company make decisions based on its values, and how is it able to live authentically into this work? Looking back, we can now see that some of the work that came out of 2020 was responsive. It was no less important because of that, but there has been a recalibration around how authentic it is to a company’s values and how aligned to its goals going forward.

I have a tremendous amount of empathy for the people making those decisions. More than 80% of the people in our research said they were proud of the decisions their companies made, and I don’t think that is because the decisions were easy. I think it is because of how hard they were.

There is no perfection in this work. If you were able to hold the line on the foundation of the work, that is success. If it gets expressed through different partnerships, slightly different cause categories or different program investments, that is a shift, but it is not necessarily a withdrawal.

We need to allow organizations to adapt without harsh judgment. If we judge every adjustment too aggressively, this work will be undermined. No matter how strong the business case is, purpose is still being weighed against pay, flexibility and other very tangible employee expectations. When companies are held to an impossible standard of perfection, it makes it difficult for them to continue to do the work and adapt as needed. We need some forgiveness in the system for people to continue to do the right thing.

NationSwell: Which trends are giving you optimism now, and which are giving you pause?

Khosla, Benevity: There is actually a lot giving me optimism. Corporate giving rose. Volunteering reached record levels. If that was our hardest year and we still grew our impact, then hell yeah, we can do this!

The level of strategic discernment and adaptability I have seen from leaders in the past few years is phenomenal — the ability to know when and how to hold the line and when and how to adjust. People in this field have basically received a crash course in the skills future business leaders will need. This group of professionals has gone through the test. I have a lot of optimism that they are ready for what comes next and are going to become some of the best business leaders across the enterprise over the next decade.

Our research showed that the number-one reason companies invest in purpose is corporate reputation and trust. So CMOs, chief communications officers and chief brand officers are leaning in. Legal cares. Finance cares. The CHRO cares. Some people see that as dilution. I see it as the work becoming embedded across the organization.

I’m also optimistic about our willingness to surface tensions. In our State of Corporate Volunteering report, we called out that companies are seeing record participation while nonprofits are struggling on the funding side — and many nonprofits do not see value in the employee volunteering they are currently receiving. Once we saw that gap in the data, we felt a responsibility to publish it. The response from both sides was: Thank you. Now help us figure out how to do it better. That is exactly the conversation the sector needs to have.

What gives me pause is the need for stronger internal advocacy. Many people in this work come from nonprofits, policy or impact. We are phenomenal at selling the value of the work to people who already believe in it. Then the challenge is: Now sell it to people who don’t. That is harder.

We need stronger impact-storytelling skills, more business acumen and greater fluency in the language of the business. And I do not mean only making a financial case. A CHRO may care more about culture and connectedness, or about using purpose to unify a company through an acquisition or merger. We need to speak very specifically to every stakeholder in their language. We are getting better at that, but there is still more to be learned and practiced.

NationSwell: What is your North Star when it comes to making difficult decisions?

Khosla, Benevity: Our former CFO and I spent a lot of time together because he was responsible for legal, compliance and risk, while I was working on the policy and ethics side. One day he said to me, “Sona, in your capacity as Chief Impact Officer, I see you as the conscience of the company.” That articulation of the role has stayed with me.

My North Star is to ask: Can I live with the decisions we are making? And are these decisions enduring? Are we going to regret this in 24 months? If so, I cannot live with it now.

My job is to be the conscience at the executive table. That means speaking on behalf of the nonprofits in our ecosystem, our clients, our people and their people. And then asking again: Can we live with these decisions over time? Is this enduring? At the end of my career, I want to leave with a sense that we did the best we could – not as a rationalization but with pride. That is what fulfillment looks like to me.

The other mindset I’m bringing to the work is that we are always going to be in draft mode. We are not going to write the next purpose playbook for the next five years, create a giant tome and simply apply it. We have to become very comfortable constantly writing, rewriting and rewriting again.

That is not failure. That level of adaptability and resilience is success. If you are rewriting, you are successful. That is the mindset this moment of hyperchange requires.

Deepening Business Value and Community Impact Through Employee Engagement

Posted on by NationSwell Team

Employee engagement has long been a cornerstone of corporate impact. But in today’s environment, leaders are under growing pressure to show how these programs deliver value — not just for communities, but for the business itself.

On July 21, NationSwell hosted a virtual Leader Roundtable designed to bring corporate impact leaders together to explore how employee-focused programs — volunteerism, pro bono service, board service, and matching gifts — can be designed with greater intention and measured with greater rigor. Together, participants dug into what it takes to move from participation to performance by aligning programs to business priorities, strengthening talent outcomes like retention and skill development, and building the case for sustained investment.

Some of the most salient takeaways from the conversation appear below:

Key takeaways:

Anchor volunteer focus areas in the core company mission and values. Employees engage when a program feels like a continuation of the work they joined the company to do, consistent with the company’s primary mission, rather than a separate priority layered on top. Starting from that alignment supports employee engagement buy-in and participation, and makes programs easier to scale. 

Lean into skills-based volunteering as a professional development tool that supports the business, rather than as a service activity. Organizations are increasingly viewing ‘soft skills’ (e.g., empathy, critical thinking, and relationship-building) as essential human skills in the age of AI. Partnering closely with HR and leveraging organizational and sector-wide studies to position skills-based volunteering as career development strengthens the business case for employee engagement. 

Partner with HR and talent teams to study the relationship between volunteer engagement and talent outcomes. By comparing talent outcomes across multiple years between individuals who volunteer and those who don’t, companies can build a better understanding of the relationship between participation and key talent priorities like retention, engagement scores, and promotion rates. While the results of these studies often show a correlation and not causation, they serve to strengthen the internal business case and narrative around the shared value created by employee-related impact programs.

Segment your  workforce to offer tailored programs based on different employee archetypes. A single volunteerism or employee engagement strategy may not suit a diverse employee base that ranges from frontline to remote roles. Offering various impact opportunities that meet employees where they are – like fundraising opportunities, on-campus projects, virtual options, or local team-building – drives more participation than a one-size-fits-all approach. Providing flexible volunteer time off benefits and extended volunteer campaigns vs. single days of service is another way leaders are expanding opportunities for frontline employees to participate in organization-wide initiatives.

Engage every function from top to bottom, and reward efforts. When business unit leaders or C-level executives commit to volunteering or social impact goals, their teams follow and stay more engaged. Pairing that top-down participation with the same recognition systems used for business performance (e.g., awards, employee-nominated grants, or celebrations tied to volunteer milestones) signals that the work is equally valued across the organization and further encourages consistent engagement.  

Stay tuned into nonprofit partners to avoid drifting too far away from community needs. One risk of orienting employee volunteerism and other employee programs toward the business is that it can widen the gap with what nonprofit partners need most.  Select partners that are strategically aligned to the core mission and impact strategy of the business, and then put trust in them to help you design programs that activate employees in ways that are ultimately beneficial to the goals those partner organizations are driving toward. This will ensure strong outcomes through volunteer engagements and support mutual value between employees, partners, and the business.

Impact Kit: Employee Engagement

Impact Kit: Employee Engagement

NationSwell Impact Kits are designed to quickly immerse leaders in highly relevant, actionable, and curated supports for their work in evergreen practice areas. This Impact Kit is focused on employee engagement.

Employees fuel the energy, commitment, and advocacy required to advance meaningful change—especially amid evolving landscapes, limited capacity, and increasing pressure to demonstrate value. When employees feel connected, empowered, and invested in, their engagement enables organizations to:

  • Strengthen culture and alignment across teams,
  • Unlock new energy, ideas, and influence, 
  • Amplify reach through ambassadorship, and
  • Achieve more sustainable, measurable impact over time.

This resource is designed to equip leaders with timely insights and emerging practices from across the NationSwell community, key resources to support your work and share with colleagues and partners, and new ideas for how to engage further with NationSwell in support of your goals.

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Impact Kit: Workforce Innovation

Impact Kit: Workforce Innovation

NationSwell Impact Kits are designed to quickly immerse leaders in highly relevant, actionable, and curated supports for their work in evergreen practice areas. This Impact Kit is focused on workforce innovation.

Workforce innovation unlocks opportunity—fueling stronger businesses, equitable communities, and a future-ready economy. When done well, workforce innovation enables leaders to:

  • Anticipate and adapt to shifts,
  • Build more equitable pathways to quality jobs and advancement,
  • Strengthen employee wellbeing, engagement, and retention,
  • Align business growth with positive community outcomes, and
  • Cultivate a culture of continuous learning and inclusion that endures.

This resource is designed to equip leaders with timely insights and emerging practices from across the NationSwell community, key resources to support your work and share with colleagues and partners, and new ideas for how to engage further with NationSwell in support of your goals. 

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New York Life | From classrooms to cubicles

New York Life | From classrooms to cubicles

How New York Life is scaling grief support through its agents and expertise

New York Life Foundation’s impact in the childhood bereavement space began more than a decade ago, sparked by a partnership with Comfort Zone Camp. What began as a pilot grant quickly evolved into a larger commitment, driven by the realization that this was a space where New York Life could lead. With a corporate mission to offer peace of mind and financial support, bereavement support is deeply aligned with New York Life’s purpose.

Motivated by the lack of reliable data and practical support tools, the Foundation launched a research partnership with Judi’s House to create the Children’s Bereavement Estimation Model (CBEM) to understand where childhood grief was most concentrated. The Foundation also conducted surveys with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to learn about grief in the classroom. Among its learnings from the initial 2012 survey: over 90% of U.S. educators say childhood grief is a serious problem that deserves more attention from schools, but only 3% had received training on supporting students through their school district. Asked how many students typically need their support due to the loss of a loved one each school year, 87% of educators said at least one, and 25% said six or more.

In 2018, the Foundation launched the Grief-Sensitive Schools Initiative (GSSI), enlisting New York Life’s  national agent network to deliver grief education and resources directly to schools. As momentum grew, agents began asking: Can we take this to nonprofits and other youth-serving organizations in addition to schools? The model was expanded to youth-serving nonprofits through GSSI+. 

In 2024, the Foundation expanded its bereavement support into workplaces. The Grief-Supportive Workplace Initiative was built around New York Life data that revealed a deep unmet need: although up to 20% of a given workforce might be grieving at one time, about 64% of employees report that their workplaces do not offer any bereavement support or training.

 

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Impact Next: An interview with Deloitte’s Dana O’Donovan

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

In moments of challenge and opportunity, who is advancing the vanguard of economic and social progress? Whose work is fostering growth that helps to ensure individuals thrive? Who will set the ambitious standards that mobilize whole industries, challenging their peers to reach new altitudes of social impact? 

In 2026, Impact Next — an editorial flagship series from NationSwell — will spotlight the standard-bearing impact leaders, entrepreneurs, experts, and philanthropists whose catalytic work has the potential to shape the landscape of progress.

For this installment, NationSwell interviewed Dana O’Donovan, US Purpose leader at Deloitte.

NationSwell: What brought you to the field that you’re in right now? Was there an early moment, a relationship, or an experience that galvanized your commitment to driving bold action?

Dana O’Donovan, Deloitte: I didn’t realize it at the time, but the genesis of my work really began when I was adopted at three weeks old, which completely changed the trajectory of my life. I was adopted by wonderful parents and given every opportunity to fulfill my potential and succeed.

As I got older, that personal experience became deeply formative; it drove a passion in me around the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their background or the circumstances of their birth. I’m very aware that my life could have turned out very differently — that I could just as easily have been someone the nonprofit sector exists to serve; that awareness has stayed with me.

When I first started my career, I was focused almost entirely on client service. I came from corporate and business unit strategy, worked in strategy consulting, and then shifted into client service work for nonprofits and foundations (I used to joke that my two jobs were horse camp counselor and consultant).

About 18 years ago, I took an in-house role at a nonprofit, and that experience fundamentally changed my perspective. It gave me a deep appreciation for how hard day-to-day operations are, especially in the nonprofit space. Strategy, I realized, is often the easy part — implementation and operations are where the real challenges live.

When I returned to client service after that, it changed how I worked. Strategy still mattered, but I became much more focused on how it connected to what teams actually do every day, and that mindset has guided me ever since. I’ve held hybrid roles since then, never fully leaving client service but adding management and leadership responsibilities over time.

That blend of experiences ultimately led me to my current role, and it’s what energizes me most today: drawing on that full arc of experience to lead with both vision and practicality.

NationSwell: What are some touchstones that you have for yourself from that past experience that you’re bringing into how you’re leading now?

O’Donovan, Deloitte: I think one of the core roles of any leader is shaping vision and strategy — but it’s just as important to understand the operational reality your team is living in. You have to stay close enough to the day-to-day to help remove obstacles, spot opportunities, and keep the work moving as effectively and efficiently as possible. We often underestimate how much time and energy it takes just to keep the trains running on time; that’s something I learned very clearly during my nonprofit experience, and it’s stayed with me.

I also believe deeply in the power of communication. It’s almost impossible to over-communicate with your team — about what’s exciting you, what you’re seeing in the broader landscape, and where you think things are headed, both externally and inside the organization. We actually have a standing agenda item in our team meetings called “Dana’s downloads,” where I share those reflections. It’s a good reminder for me to keep doing that consistently.

There’s no denying how much is happening in the world right now, but I also see this moment as one of extraordinary opportunity. New technologies and capabilities are opening up possibilities we couldn’t imagine before, and I’m seeing a growing willingness to engage in bolder, more meaningful collaboration to drive impact.

On the corporate side, purpose is increasingly a market driver — it’s no longer something adjacent or optional; it’s core. At Deloitte, we see growth and purpose as deeply linked, and that connection helps us stay relevant in a world that’s moving incredibly fast.

I feel fortunate to have a front-row seat to this moment — through my role at Deloitte, through our client work across industries, and through conversations with leaders across the NationSwell community. I’m encouraged by how many organizations are finding new ways to make purpose central to their strategies and to collaborate beyond what any one organization could do alone. That kind of creativity and collaboration is really the only way we’re going to meet this moment — and it’s where I see real possibility for lasting impact.

NationSwell: Is there a particular lever you’re pulling or an approach that you have to that work that you think sets it up for success? 

O’Donovan, Deloitte: I do think we’re seeing more meaningful multi-sector collaboration than in the past. We’ve talked about collaboration for years, but it hasn’t always been as common or as effective as it needs to be. The reality is that the challenges trying to be solved are far too complex for any single organization — even one as large as Deloitte — to tackle alone.

That’s why focus matters. Organizations need clarity on the issue areas they’re committed to. But the real power of corporate purpose lies in how we show up. It’s not funding alone, which will always be modest compared to large foundations; it’s not talent engagement, pro bono work, or skills-based volunteering on their own. Impact comes from intentionally combining those assets.

At Deloitte, that “how” is grounded in place-based, issue-driven ecosystems. A strong example is the Yes San Francisco urban sustainability challenge, launched in 2023 as a collaboration among Deloitte, Salesforce, the World Economic Forum, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. The aim was to support local urban sustainability innovators in developing solutions to help revitalize the city post-COVID, and in doing so build a more resilient economy.

That work has since evolved into a broader blueprint called Yes/Cities, focused on using cross-sector collaboration to drive sustainable change in cities globally. We’re not creating the solutions — we’re creating the conditions to help local innovators succeed.

One key lesson from San Francisco: Strong ecosystems require collaborators across sectors, each bringing distinct skills, resources, and networks. Place-based work also has to be community-centered — designed by, for, and with the people closest to the challenges. That means leading with questions, listening deeply, and building alongside communities rather than arriving with answers.

NationSwell: What’s defining the current social and economic environment that we’re in — what are the trends that you’re currently seeing, and what’s giving you hope?

O’Donovan, Deloitte: I think we still need to push ourselves to think about innovation not just for what’s required right now, but for what nonprofits will need five or ten years down the road. That’s especially true as we think about the commitments we’re making to help the social sector meet this moment from a technology perspective.

We’ve spoken with dozens of nonprofit leaders about their technology challenges and opportunities, and what’s clear is that they’re not naïve about the potential of tools like AI or integrated systems to help transform their work. The challenge isn’t awareness — it’s capacity. It’s not just about access to a platform; it’s about having the technical talent and resources to customize, maintain, and continually adapt those systems to their specific models.

As a result, technology takes up an enormous amount of nonprofit leaders’ mindshare — often at the expense of their core mission. I would love to help lower that burden so leaders can spend more time focused on impact. This is where Deloitte can play a valuable role. We bring deep experience in the social impact space alongside the scale and sophistication of our broader technology capabilities — the same kinds of platforms and support we provide to corporate clients.

Talking about innovation and potential isn’t enough if we can’t translate it into something usable and practical. The real opportunity is connecting technology to day-to-day operations in a way that helps organizations work more effectively, more efficiently, and stay deeply mission-focused. That’s the gap I’m most excited to help close.

NationSwell: What advice do you have for others about how they can lean in and use their superpowers to help the nonprofit sector?

O’Donovan, Deloitte: One thing I believe very deeply — and anyone on my team will tell you I say this all the time — is that Deloitte can do almost anything. But the real question isn’t what we can do — it’s what we should uniquely do to be most helpful.

I think we’re past the era of check-the-box corporate philanthropy: writing a check, running employee giving campaigns, and calling it a day. That work mattered, but we’ve learned so much more about the real superpowers corporations can bring to the table. When you do deep listening — when you talk to communities, engage people on the ground, and really understand what’s needed — you get fundamentally different answers.

That’s when you’re able to focus on what your organization is uniquely positioned to contribute. Because while you can do a lot of things, not all of them add up to the kind of change this moment actually demands.

NationSwell: How do you cultivate purpose within your team? How do you help people understand their purpose and feel guided by that?

O’Donovan, Deloitte: I think the good news about Deloitte is that we’ve cared about impact for more than 180 years. We’re starting from a place of real strength. For me, my role is about continuing to evolve that purpose in line with the moment we’re in.

A big part of that is making sure there’s as little daylight as possible between our ambitions and how we actually show up. When I think about our investments, commitments, and social impact work, we’re focused on sustainability, opportunity, and trust — areas aimed at creating positive impact in our organization and in our communities genuinely make sense for us. My work has been about sharpening that focus: aligning our portfolio with those priorities and doing the work with communities, not for them, and never alone.

Our senior leaders share this commitment and believe deeply in strengthening local efforts, convening decision-makers, and facilitating collaboration across sectors. That’s really shaped our approach — not just what we focus on, but how we show up. It’s about working alongside organizations closest to the issues, supporting strategic initiatives, and driving collective action. We started from a strong place; the work now is about raising our game and focusing on what we can uniquely do to create long-term impact — building access to opportunity, family-sustaining jobs, and more resilient communities.

I also want to be clear that leading with purpose isn’t limited to my role. I get to focus on this every day, and we empower our people to lead with purpose in how they show up with their teams and respond to opportunities including our client service professionals that can help think through the impact of their work on people and communities.

Part of my role is making that easier — helping our professionals and leaders embed purpose into their team and client engagements. Many of our clients care deeply about this too, which creates real opportunity. Whether it’s co-investing in communities, showing up together on Impact Day, our annual day of collective service, or building purpose into long-term client relationships, there are so many ways we can demonstrate what it looks like to lead with purpose as an organization.

NationSwell: Of the socially motivated leaders you consider your peers, are there any whose work inspired you and whom you hold in high esteem?

O’Donovan, Deloitte: First, I get a lot of energy from people and community — meeting new people, reconnecting with trusted peers, and talking through how we’re seeing the world. Those conversations often spark new or unexpected ideas. That’s why I value spaces like NationSwell so much. There’s real power in community building, especially when it’s a group you trust. I’ve always had what I call a “kitchen cabinet” — a personal board of directors. They’re not all in similar roles, but they’ve known me at different stages of my life, and when I’m facing a big decision, their perspectives are invaluable.

Second, I’m very intentional about continuing to invest in my own leadership. I love a good podcast or audiobook — especially thinkers who combine data with practical, human-centered insights. That blend of rigor and applicability really resonates with me and helps shape how I think about leading in complex environments.

And finally, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to learn from some exceptional mentors over the course of my career. A few former managers are still part of my kitchen cabinet today. One mentor, in particular, taught me so much about leadership—especially how to support people through different seasons of their careers. She helped me see possibilities for myself long before I could see them on my own. Watching her do that shaped how I lead today and how I think about developing others on my team.

Seeing people grow over time — and helping them prepare for what’s next — is one of the most fulfilling parts of leadership for me.

NationSwell: Are there any resources you’d recommend — books, podcasts, Ted talks — that have influenced your thinking that might influence others as well?

O’Donovan, Deloitte: I just finished the audiobook of Strong Ground, Brené Brown’s new book, and I found it incredibly insightful — especially in how it talks about leadership, transformation, and what’s actually required of leaders in this moment. I don’t think I’ve fully processed all of it yet, but it’s already prompting me to reflect on where some of my default settings might need an upgrade. It’s the kind of book that stays with you, and I know I’ll be carrying those questions with me as I think about 2026.

For people who want to come into this space, one thing I’ve found to be profoundly important is the combination of two kinds of experience and knowledge. First, deep industry knowledge in the social impact space — really understanding what it takes to create change, which for me and my team has come from decades of working closely with nonprofits, foundations, and communities. And second, a strong understanding of how change actually happens inside a corporate environment.

You need both. If you only have industry knowledge, your options can be limited if you don’t know how to galvanize people and move work forward in your organization. And if you only understand corporate systems without the depth of issue-area knowledge, the impact may not be meaningful. I certainly had to build that second muscle when I came to Deloitte 13 years ago — learning how things get done here to match my external experience.

When you bring those two together, the opportunity set expands exponentially. It’s incredibly energizing, because you start to see what’s actually possible. But it’s also complex work. This space can look appealing from the outside — and it is rewarding — but it requires a lot of reps, learning, and humility. That’s why I often tell junior professionals: go deep on one side first, build real experience, and then start layering in the other. Purpose alone isn’t enough — you need the skills and capabilities to turn it into lasting impact.

Childcare for All Solutions Wheel

Childcare for All Solutions Wheel

The Case for Childcare Collaborative designed this interactive resource hub to help employers explore childcare solutions that support working families and strengthen their workforce. Through research, real-world examples, and practical tools, the site helps organizations understand the business impact of childcare and identify benefits and policies that work for employees across industries and income levels.

Whether employers are just getting started or expanding existing supports, the platform offers actionable guidance to help build more inclusive, resilient workplaces where workers — and businesses — can thrive.

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What’s Ahead for Impact Leaders in 2026?

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

The year ahead will challenge social impact leaders to stay focused, adaptive, and bold. Political volatility, economic uncertainty, and accelerating technological change will continue to reshape the landscape for companies, philanthropies, and nonprofits alike. To lead effectively, it’s essential to cut through the noise and anchor in a shared understanding of the conditions we’re operating within – the challenges, the opportunities, and the questions we can’t yet answer.

On January 13, NationSwell hosted a candid, forward-looking virtual Leader Roundtable on what’s ahead for social impact in 2026. Some of the most salient takeaways from the conversation appear below:

Key takeaways:

Build for permanent volatility, not temporary disruption. The organizations best positioned for 2026 are strengthening internal infrastructure (governance, systems, and decision-making) so they can stabilize and operate effectively in uncertainty, rather than react to periodic crises.

Emphasize the importance of risk management. Impact work is no longer solely about polished storytelling or reputational lift. It must demonstrate how programs reduce risk, strengthen resilience, and protect long-term enterprise value in a rapidly shifting environment.

Replace anecdotes with granular, actionable data. Stories still matter, but leaders and boards now expect rigorous data to inform decision-making. The most effective teams lead with evidence, outcomes, and ROI, and use storytelling to reinforce, not substitute, the business case.

Design impact strategies that solve executive-level challenges. Disjointed CSR strategies are of the past. High-performing impact teams embed their work into core enterprise priorities. For example: solve for the CFO’s constraints, the CHRO’s workforce needs, the CMO’s agenda, and the CEO’s growth strategy.

Make every dollar work harder. Resource pressure is real. Leverage scalable, well-structured partnerships to share risk, expand reach, and deliver multi-dimensional value. Ensure each investment advances both social outcomes and business objectives.

Ensure key programs have “tentacles” into real-world dynamics. Effective initiatives connect directly to what’s happening in communities, markets, and technologies. Programs that stay close to lived experience and external shifts maintain relevance and legitimacy.

Grow trust through connection, relationship building, and reconciliation. Collaboration across differences requires more than convening. Leaders must invest in relationships, acknowledge past harm, and rebuild trust before durable partnerships and shared progress are possible.

NationSwell’s Look Ahead at 2026

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

From shifting economic conditions to evolving expectations of leadership, 2026 will test how organizations adapt and lead. To ground these dynamics in real-world experience, we invited NationSwell members and Senior Advisors to offer their thoughts, predictions, and recommendations on the year ahead. Together, their insights surface some of the early signals and inflection points that will help impact leaders anticipate what’s coming and prepare accordingly.

Take a look at some of their predictions for 2026 below:

On the national and global shifts that will shape social impact work:

“With the collapse of international development budgets, we’ve shifted from a world with ‘more money than innovation’ to a world with “more innovation than money.” While multilateral agencies continue to grapple with existential funding crises, entrepreneurs on the ground have been solving problems faster, cheaper, more sustainably — and yes, at scale. The future of global development is already happening in the hands of entrepreneurs who didn’t wait for permission to build solutions. In 2026, we will double down investing in them.”

— Hala Hanna, Executive Director, MIT Solve

“The adjustments to the social safety net will reveal the start of new support and assistance mechanisms.”

— John Brothers, President and CEO, Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation; NationSwell Strategic Advisor

“Competitive health organizations will build new, real-world datasets—moving past secondary data to focus on primary data—to execute AI strategies. A major pillar is atomic care data between the caregiver and care recipient—the “last three feet of care.” Breakthroughs like this will begin to unlock a $6 trillion North American care economy, transforming health care, jobs, and the global economy.”

— Richard Lui, Director, Oscar-qualifying Caregiving Films; Principal, CAREGenome; Anchor, CNN & NBCU News

On the ethics and strategies needed to implement AI at scale:

“As one colleague put it, ‘other large economies are building infrastructure in AI for education, we’re building gardens.’ It’s time to get serious and focus on creating the policy to practice infrastructure when it comes to designing for a new era.

—Jean-Claude Brizard, President and CEO, Digital Promise Global

“AI is valuable to a point; but it lacks nuance. Scratch the surface and it starts to feel like the emperor’s new clothes. We’ve worshiped at that altar long enough, and now we’ll start to see a switch back (at least in media) where the premium value lies with the journalist herself. Facts are facts (if only we could agree on them) but analysis and commentary are hard. (As an example, I don’t need a journalist to tell me where the markets closed; but I do need a journalist to tell me why they closed where they did.) In the media, watch for an emphasis on the real—real dialog between real people, stories written by real journalists, art created by real artists, original photographs by actual photographers. The human touch (that seemingly still can’t be replicated by a bot), might just be the premium that makes us pay.

— Francesca Donner, founder & editor-in-chief, The Persistent

On the deep value in supporting and lifting up young people:

“In 2026, youth inclusion in the development of emerging technologies like AI, especially girls, nonbinary individuals, and historically underrepresented youth, will be critical to innovation in tech. Organizations that recognize this trend and move beyond superficial engagement to genuinely give young people a voice and opportunities in tech development, strategy, and design will be leaders. Collaborating with organizations such as Girls Who Code to involve the next generation as essential collaborators will help companies achieve real, equitable impact.”

— Tarika Barrett, Chief Executive Officer, Girls Who Code

“2026 will be a year for youth—for their voices and their leadership. As we look for new and different approaches to address the many issues we see across the country and around the world, the fresh perspectives of youth (long seen as naïve and idealistic) will emerge as both viable and essential, as young people assume more roles of leadership in business, government, and society. And we need to show up to support them.”

— George Tsiatis, CEO and Co-Founder, Resolution Project

On the continued importance of social connection and fidelity to community:

“In 2026, let’s stop dabbling and start scaling what actually works—then drop what doesn’t. Team up in bigger, braver ways with the people closest to the problems, not just the usual suspects. Pick a lane, put real money and energy behind it, and move now like this decade can’t wait.”

— Celeste Warren, Founder, Celeste Warren Consulting, LLC; NationSwell Strategic Advisor

“Opportunities that allow for community, collaboration and connection will be increasingly important. People want to co-create change and not just support it from the sidelines. This will lead to more collaborative funding models that use a mix of time, talent and money.”

— Beth Bengston, CEO and Founder, Working for Women

“As the world races toward the mass adoption of AI, people are increasingly turning to bots and machines for advice, counsel, and even companionship. But we have to ask ourselves, at what cost? This shift, while ‘efficient,’ risks eroding the very essence of human connection and the agency we have over the choices we make, the work we do, and the world we live in.”

— Kim Dabbs, Founder, To Belonging; NationSwell Strategic Advisor

“In 2026, the social impact field will be defined by how well we serve communities that continually transition and adapt, like military families. The organizations that succeed will invest in flexible, tech-enabled, community-led support that meets people where they are and scales belonging through trusted local networks.”

— Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO and Board President, Blue Star Families

On the need to create balance and alignment amid tensions:

“As we look ahead, 2026 may be remembered as a year when situational stewardship quietly took shape across the social impact field. With many systems operating under assumptions that no longer fully hold, people are adjusting how they respond — prioritizing judgment, timing, and care. In that context, situational stewardship itself may be among the most generative conditions for meaningful impact, and offering grace in how we understand each other’s choices allows that work to be seen and sustained.”

— Dawn Karber, Executive Director, SkillsFWD at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

“Social impact organizations must clearly tie mission outcomes to core business value to remain relevant, continue funding, and have influence. In other words, ‘good intentions’ will no longer be enough. The field is moving decisively toward value-creation first.”

— Maggie Carter, NationSwell Strategic Advisor

“2025 marked a year of great tension. We saw companies act more cautiously, despite impact leaders wanting to see companies be more courageous. In 2026, we expect to see a different tension arise. One where companies invest further in employee volunteering while nonprofits’ financial needs grow. This will demand that the two sides of the ecosystem come together to find paths to mutuality, especially as the UN marks 2026 as the International Year of the Volunteer.”

— Sona Khosla, Chief Impact Officer, Benevity

“During this year of corporate sustainability resets and uncertainty, focus on renewing your commercial relationships and business case. Use this ‘pause’ to make your plan to retake the offensive once this firefighting period is over.”

— Michael Kobori, NationSwell Strategic Advisor

And finally, the simple advice that will sustain us in difficult moments:

“Always hope. And move like you are not afraid.”

— Alesha Washington, President and CEO, Seattle Foundation