Hi Subscriber First Name—I hope you’re easing into your work week after the holiday weekend.

I spent my Labor Day weekend in Seattle, where it was a comfortable 72°F for late summer.

Then I came home to San Diego and walked straight into a humid brick wall: 97°F and 80% humidity. Just a few days out of the heat made me realize just how unsustainable it was to live in it.

I’ve been sticky, tired, agitated, and struggling to focus.

I feel like the frog in the famous fable: if a frog is placed in cool water and the temperature rises gradually, it may not recognize the danger until it’s too late 🐸

Except I got to leave the water, and upon my return realized the danger… and I started questioning things.

The more I thought about this, the more I thought about nonprofit and social impact leaders in my community:

The seasoned Executive Director who once spent her days strategizing for the future, but now spends that time scrambling to keep the organization’s doors open after major funding cuts

The helpful HR professional whose role was to create healthier workplace policies, but has become everyone’s go-to person for conflict and distress as staff struggle with workloads

The dedicated program team who once had a balanced schedule for their frontline community services, but now work overtime each week due to layoffs and rising community needs

The talented grant writer who felt confident in her grant writing ability, but now questions herself and feels disconnected from her purpose after rejection after rejection…

These are real people in dangerously hot water.

Some organizations are getting creative about helping people step out of it: Shutting down for the week. Encouraging staff to use all of their PTO. Scheduling days dedicated to rest and recovery. This relief matters.

But just like I experienced this week, the water is still hot when you get back in.

That’s why Do Good Leadership Collective works with social impact organizations to do more than give people a break from hot waters. We help organizations examine the conditions that are making the water so hot in the first place. Then we figure out, together, how to turn the temperature back down.

And truthfully Subscriber First Name, society is going to continue turning up the heat on us. So, now is the time to ask yourself and your organization:

What are the conditions that we are willing to challenge?

A few weeks ago, Do Good Leadership Collective partnered up with The Kinship Fund for another Third Space gathering: a space dedicated to turning down the heat for nonprofit organizations and their leaders.

This is a prime example of people challenging conditions. Too frequently, funders make suggestions to nonprofit organizations about how to turn down the heat (e.g., just collaborate more!), without investing in the necessary support and resources. The Kinship Fund is doing things differently.