Reframing Organizational Resilience

As staff leaders and board members, how do we respond when our organizational values are tested in real time? Executive orders, legal threats, and funding pressures are forcing this question every day now across the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

Often, boards turn to the language they know—financial, legal, and operational risk; they seek to protect the institution. But their proximity to risk is different from that of staff, communities, or leaders on the ground. And that difference shapes how risk is understood, prioritized, and acted upon by the organization. It can result in very real risks going unexamined and in an under-recognition for what is truly at stake.

Join strategist, writer, and advisor to mission-driven organizations Dax-Devlon Ross to:

Participants will leave better equipped to engage their boards with clarity and confidence in the face of organizational risk. To name how risk is being interpreted; introduce a broader understanding of what is at stake; and, guide more aligned decision-making in moments of pressure.

is a strategist, writer, and advisor who helps mission-driven organizations navigate complexity, align their values with their operations, and make clearer decisions under pressure. As co-founder of Third Settlements, he works with executive teams and boards on leadership development, organizational strategy, and culture—often at moments of transition, tension, or risk. His work draws on decades of experience across education, nonprofit leadership, and journalism, and is grounded in a commitment to helping organizations confront hard truths while staying anchored to their mission. He writes regularly on leadership, systems, and power at First Draft Thinking, and is the author of multiple books exploring race, identity, and American life.