March 31, 2021
The Building Blocks of Nonprofit Capacity
Dear Friends: Childhood favorite toys like a box of LEGO® or Lincoln Logs gave many of us our first taste of complex thinking. Between sorting shapes, sizes, and colors, we also had to thi…
March 1, 2021
One Year Through the Looking Glass
Dear Friends: There is real comfort in knowing. Knowing when our next paycheck will be delivered, where our next meal will come from, what the next step in our lives will bring us. Knowledge…
February 1, 2021
Paths of Possibilities
Dear Friends: There is a lot of talk right now about terms like equity and inclusiveness. That’s a good thing. The moment demands it. But not just this moment. And while we need to talk…
January 1, 2021
Completing the Circle
Dear Friends: Most of us crave clean-cut beginning and end points throughout life. Traditions guide us, or at least mark stages in our lives, helping us reflect on who we were, who we are, and…
November 30, 2020
2020 to 2021...Crisis, Unity, Possibilities
Dear Friends: At the start of 2020 I shared with you my New Year’s resolutions. Yes, like many I wanted to capture the momentum and hope that came with ushering in a new decade. Those pi…
November 1, 2020
Gratitude Unexpectedly, Perfectly, On Time
Dear Friends: Sitting in my home office this summer on what had become a typical pandemic day, the mail had an unexpected large manila envelope that intrigued me on that hot, hazy afternoon. M…
September 30, 2020
New Stages, Reimagined Futures, and the Art of Enduring Legacies
Dear Friends: Our cultural calendars are quite different this Fall. Performances under the bright lights of theater stages now dazzle us from screens we are accessing with clicks and fire stic…
August 31, 2020
Drafting Our Story of Recovery with Season of Sharing
Dear Friends: If journalism is our first rough draft of history, then caring for community is today’s frontpage headline. From neighbors embracing mask fashion to safely maneuver social…
July 30, 2020
Riding Toward Ambiguous Finish Lines
Dear Friends: Normally, at this time of year I would be writing to you about how was I inspired by caring Iowans during my annual cycling trip across Iowa, RAGBRAI, Des Moines Register's Ann…