Rebuilding Strategy from the Inside Out

The “fixes” nonprofits are often pushed toward start at the surface level. They're focused on tactics, campaigns, or external strategies, and try to work backward toward alignment. These approaches aim to solve external problems by jumping straight to action, without first building the internal meaning that makes those efforts possible.

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(I can’t tell you how many nonprofit CEOs have told me, “We just need to get our social media right.” I say this with love: TikTok will never help your organization “gain traction” if you haven’t done the foundational work first.)

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And right now, an inside-out approach matters more than ever. In an era when nonprofits are facing sentiment changes, political polarization, and shrinking trust, a shared narrative is a steadying tool for the sector's crisis of identity.

It gives you the clarity and courage to stand firm on your purpose, communicate through controversy, and hold your community together even when the external environment is uncertain or hostile.

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To be clear, it can't magically change the system nonprofits live in. But it can be a counterweight to it. 

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Starting with an organizational narrative shapes how people understand the work, why it matters, and where they fit into the larger story. And when people can see themselves in the story, they show up with clarity, purpose, and commitment.

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This belief is at the heart of my work today. After years leading internal change, I came to see that the most successful transformations didn’t happen because we had a perfect plan. They happened because we built shared understanding through a strategy people could internalize. That’s why my focus is on change communication: helping organizations align their strategy and people through co-created narratives that generate clarity, cohesion, and energy.

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Even as AI tools enter the picture, they can’t replace the human process of meaning-making. AI can accelerate the technical side of communications, but only leaders and teams can do the work of co-creating purpose and identity. Narrative work is ultimately about people, relationships, and trust.

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And I’ll be honest: this work asks a lot of you up front. It’s deeper than a messaging refresh or a visioning session. But doing it well saves enormous time, energy, and heartbreak down the road because it ensures your organization has the clarity, alignment, and shared sense of meaning it needs to navigate whatever comes next. That experience is what transforms a narrative from a deliverable into a living, breathing force inside the organization.

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Ultimately, shared narrative rejects the idea that what happens inside the organization doesn’t matter. It rejects the myth of the perfect plan. It rejects the idea that siloed communication, legacy beliefs, and performative planning are the only way forward.

And it embraces the evolving beliefs, ideas, and choices that make your organization work, not just because it helps you raise more dollars  (though it often does), but because it honors the voices and lived experiences of those closest to the work.

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Shared narrative creates meaning.

Meaning drives alignment.

And sustained alignment fosters the deep cohesion that makes an organization resilient, adaptable, and ready to thrive.