Beth Kanter - The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact Without Burnout

The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit is an essential guide for leaders and organizations looking to make a positive social impact on their communities and all around the world. Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman lay out a clear and compelling case for building sustainable lives while changing the world.

Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post

Many social good activists who leverage the power of spreading good through small acts are passionate about whatever they are trying to change in the world. That passion, however, is a double-edged sword: it propels them forward, but often comes at the expense of their health and happiness. Kanter/Sherman's book shows how these passionate individuals can incorporate self-care and well-being into their lives in order to sustain that work. A must-read.

Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic Professor of Marketing at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

I'm entering my second decade as an executive coach and an instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit covers many of the same topics that I discuss with business leaders and MBA students and write about for the Harvard Business Review. Beth and her coauthor Aliza Sherman have created an essential resource for every nonprofit professional.

Ed Batista, Executive Coach and Instructor, Stanford Graduate School of Business

For too long, we have lamented the heroic leadership and martyrdom prevalent in nonprofits without actually proposing an alternate way of operationalizing a commitment to staff well-being. Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman finally take this on. Starting from their personal stories of recommitting to their own well-being and then drawing in the expertise of others, they offer practical strategies for prioritizing wellness. Organizations can no longer ignore this mandate!

Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint

As an advocate for thriving in one's work and life, I recommend The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit as an essential guide for social change leaders and organizations looking to make a positive impact on their communities and world. Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman lay out a clear and compelling case not just for self-care for individuals but also a WE-care' culture shift for organizations to create happier, healthier workplaces.

Heather L. Carpenter, Coauthor of The Talent Development Platform: Putting People First in Social Change Organizations

Doing work that matters is rarely easy. Aliza and Beth have written a book that doesn't shy away from this. It is truthful, honest, and fun while motivating you not to give up and to keep doing your important work. It doesn't matter if you run the largest foundation in the world or are volunteering on weekends. This book will inspire you to take better care of yourself so you can do your work in a more healthy and sustainable way.

C.C. Chapman, Author of Amazing Things Will Happen: A Real-World Guide on Achieving Success and Happiness

Many dream of a life of service and then are surprised at the strain this work can cause both emotionally and physically. While we know intellectually that we cannot fully give ourselves to others if we do not take care of ourselves, our passion for our work, the heavy emotional investment it requires, and our organizations' limited resources can combine to take a personal toll. In The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit, Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman shine a light on this challenge, giving us practical tools for self-care and for creating the kind of organizational health that's needed if we and our co-workers are going to have the endurance, the perseverance, and the joy required to make lasting change.

Sasha Dichter, Chief Innovation Officer, Acumen

As a nonprofit leader for decades, I know how easy it is to give so much to your cause that you deplete yourself. In The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit, Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman provide an essential guide to elevate self-care as a strategic tool for nonprofit professionals who want to perform at their best as they work to change the world.

Gloria Feldt, Cofounder and President, Take The Lead, and author of No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power

The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit reframes work' not as the drudgery that leaves most of us broken and burned out, but as a vehicle for meaning, well-being, and happiness. It is a smart guide that offers practical and important strategies for integrating self-care into the fabric of organizations. The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit is a must-read for every person in every nonprofit organization from the board room to the C-suite to the staff and the interns. Read it. Mark it up. Turn down the pages. Share it. Do it.

Allison Fine, Author, Matterness: Fearless Leadership for a Social World

The put on your own oxygen mask first before helping others' message from the airlines could not be more relevant to the nonprofit sector and brought to life by this book. This is an essential read for the extraordinary nonprofit and social change leaders around the world working tirelessly to serve our communities. Thanks to Beth and Alizaboth for writing this and leading by example in their own professional lives.

Meg Garlinghouse, Head of LinkedIn for Good

A much needed guide for nonprofits to meet their employees and volunteers where they are, and a handy tool for anyone looking to sustain a demanding mission-focused career. Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman serve as our self-care docents, and their book feels as much like a hug as a template for nonprofit workers who yearn for permission to take care of themselves while still being dedicated to their mission.

Wendy Harman, White House Presidential Innovation Fellow

We NGO types are a pretty righteous bunch. I mean, I spend my time working to end all sorts of global ills that have plagued the earth since the dawn of timepoverty, hunger, horrible diseases. And the thinking goes because they suffer, I must too.' When someone leaves the office early, the running joke (with a bite) is you are letting poverty win!' Beth and Aliza are offering a guidebook to save us from ourselves.

Tom Hart, Executive Director, North America, the ONE Campaign

There is no problem more pressing in the social sector than the burning out of the best and brightest talent in our fieldwe cannot be of service to our communities if we have driven ourselves into the ground. What a blessing to have great minds like Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman on the case to encourage us all to help ourselves, our organizations, and our future.

Clayton Lord, Vice President of Local Arts Advancement, Americans for the Arts

You're no good to the cause if you're not being good to yourself. The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit is a much needed guide to help get the most out of the human element in an organization.

Steven R. MacLaughlin, Director of Analytics, Blackbaud, Inc.

The only asset we have for making a contribution to the world is ourselves. Yet so many well-intended social entrepreneurs forget this and burn out. Good motives are not enough: we need the kind of practical wisdom on offer in every page of this book from Beth and Aliza!

Greg McKeown, New York Times Bestselling Author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

It's common for passionate social change leaders to throw themselves into their work, while neglecting to take care of themselves: we all know people and organizations that have burned out from these bad habits. But if we want to create sustained social impact at scaleand high-performing nonprofitsthen we need to focus more on personal and organizational sustainability. And as Gandhi so wisely counseled, we must be the change we want to see in the world. Luckily Kanter and Sherman give us invaluable advice on how to redefine our approach toward work, create healthy organizational cultures, and pursue our passions with purpose and joy.