Nonprofit talent development host shares what's in her learning and development ecosystem

We are already at the end of 2025. This is a time of reflection, goal setting, and a renewed commitment to being our best selves. I love this time of year, and each year I like to spend some time reflecting on my goals, what I've been able to accomplish, and where I missed a little bit.

So, in this episode, I'm going to share some details about what's going on inside Skill Masters Market, my consulting business, Learning for Good, this podcast, and the Nonprofit L&D Collective, our private community for nonprofit training pros.

You'll hear about the transformations of 2025 and what's coming in 2026.

▶️ Key Points:

00:00 My personal mission

03:52 Skill Masters Market

05:29 Learning for Good

07:42 Nonprofit L&D Collective

My Personal Mission as a Nonprofit Learning and Development Consultant

If you are a nonprofit leader, you know the persistent challenge: your organization is growing, but your people sometimes aren't keeping up. You are constantly fixing the same performance issues, and you wonder how to build confident, capable staff who know how to lead, not just execute. As a leader in this space, I, too, have seen that traditional training approaches—just telling people what to do and how to do it—don't work.

My mission, and the driving force behind Skill Master's Market and the Learning for Good podcast, is to help people do the most good in a way that feels good. This means helping mission-driven leaders use learning to drive performance, build capacity, and make change that lasts.

Today, as we stand at the end of 2025, it’s a time for reflection, goal setting, and a renewed commitment to our best selves. On episode 166 of the Learning for Good podcast, I am sharing the transformations within the Skill Masters Market ecosystem—the consulting business, the podcast, and the Nonprofit L&D Collective—and reveal what’s coming in 2026.

Reflections on Nonprofit Training Projects

What a year 2025 has been—a wild ride that required necessary pivots. I started the year hopeful and full of business goals, but quickly realized adjustments were needed.

My personal mission is carried out through training and consulting. I work with nonprofits across the country, helping them identify their performance needs and solve them in a way that feels simple. This work often involves creating various learning solutions, including eLearning, live training sessions, and workshops for diverse audiences, such as people managers, early childhood educators, doulas, midwives, and program directors.

The what of this work is training, but the why is what truly matters. I do this work because I want nonprofit teams to be aligned and focused on their goals, and I want nonprofit staff to feel confident and competent in their roles. Ultimately, the goal is for nonprofits to operate more efficiently and sustainably, allowing staff to do the most good in a way that feels good.

At the start of 2025, I set a goal to work with five clients, aiming for at least one of those clients to originate from the channels where I show up most frequently (the podcast, the Collective, or LinkedIn). I closed out two clients early in the year and added three more throughout 2025, barely meeting the goal of working with five different clients. I was proud that at least one client found me through LinkedIn.

The work included diverse projects:

Developing a customer service training for one client’s nonprofit staff, with a new project already queued up.
Creating a people manager workshop and road mapping future development for another client.
Starting as a fractional L&D leader for a third client, providing ongoing, stand-in support.

This year brought unexpected twists, but I am carrying important lessons into 2026. I plan to continue refining how I talk about my work, reach out to people who need my services, and most importantly, show gratitude for those who have referred me or shared my work.

Reflections on the Learning for Good Podcast

The Learning for Good podcast has been a significant engine for sharing strategies and connecting with changemakers. My ambitious goal is to one day reach the top 1% of all podcasts.

While we aren't there yet, the podcast has made remarkable progress in 2025:

Ranking: Learning for Good is now a top 2.5% globally ranked podcast.
Recognition: The podcast made several lists this year, including top talent development podcasts, top instructional design podcasts, and top 50 nonprofit podcasts.
Growth: The podcast has reached over 17,000 downloads, and as of October, we saw an 83% growth compared to the same period last year.

The most popular episodes—which I always find intriguing—reveal what topics resonate most with the audience:

Looking ahead to 2026, I have planned a full calendar of episodes focusing on critical issues like reducing staff turnover, preparing emerging leaders for new roles (since promoting from within is essential), and creating an organizational culture that drives consistent performance.

As a listener, I have two important requests:

Leave a Review: Reviews on Apple Podcasts or your preferred app help the podcast reach more people and land amazing guests who contribute to the overall experience. This is an easy, yet impactful way to show support.
Share Your Input: Tell me what you want to hear more of or less of, or ask a question through our Speakpipe link.

Reflections on the Nonprofit L&D Collective

Perhaps the most significant transformation of 2025 occurred within the Nonprofit L&D Collective, our private community for nonprofit training professionals. Our core goal is singular: to build nonprofit L&D pros and their careers. We want nonprofit L&D professionals to gain access to the people, resources, and partners they need to truly thrive.

As I often say, the Collective is "like the operating system you didn't know you needed for your career."

This community experienced substantial growth in 2025, reaching the goal of 100 members early and now standing at over 150 members. This growth, coupled with the observed needs of the community, necessitated a pivot:

Our Community Hub

We moved to a new community platform (Heartbeat, if you’re curious) that integrates resources, discussions, and events all in one place.

Our Community Offerings

We continue to provide free networking events to nonprofit employees in training-related roles. We also added a paid membership tier called Catalyst. These members are truly focused on driving change for their organizations and gain access to enhanced support, including:

Group coaching and workshops
Additional learning opportunities throughout the year
A growing resource library

Our Community Partners

To provide a comprehensive "operating system," we added partners who offer L&D adjacent resources that are vital for career success. These partnerships include:

An LMS partner
A project management partner
An AI partner
A career search partner

A Look Ahead to 2026: Focused Growth and Support for Nonprofit Training Pros

2026 will bring even more targeted opportunities for the L&D community.

We are planning to host several ticketed events, structured like mini-conferences for the nonprofit L&D community.

Our first event is Career Week. It’s January 12-16. Throughout the week, you will hear from experts on career planning, job searching, personal branding, and key leadership skills for emerging and experienced L&D professionals. You’ll have opportunities to network with peers, connect with mentors, and explore new pathways in the nonprofit learning and development space. Grab your ticket for this event.

Later in the year, events will focus specifically on learning design and leading learning in nonprofits and associations.

A key goal for 2026 is to introduce sponsors. The cost to join the Catalyst tier is intentionally kept affordable, currently at only $97 a year, despite the much higher value. Sponsors will help offset costs, pay speakers (a personal goal for 2026), and guide members toward the right vendors for their needs.

In addition to these opportunities, I have a sharp focus on the community itself. I want nonprofit L&D professionals to feel supported, knowing where to go for quick responses to questions and who to call for a deeper dive into a situation. This support requires deep roots in the community.

To facilitate this deep connection, in addition to our monthly group networking events, we are launching one-on-one networking with the help of our sponsor, Community Hives. Community Hives offers simple, login-free tools designed to spark genuine one-on-one connection, making connection and networking easier for the organization and its members.

If you are a nonprofit L&D professional, 2026 is the year to join our growing community!

Our Commitment to the Nonprofit Sector

The journey of helping people do the most good in a way that feels good requires continuous learning, adaptation, and support. The transformation of Skill Masters Market in 2025—from the diverse client work to the podcast’s growth and the evolution of the Collective—reflects a commitment to meeting the needs of nonprofit leaders.

I am grateful for every download, every review, and every member who contributes to this vibrant community. I look forward to seeing you in 2026.

To learn more about the Skill Masters Market ecosystem, tune into episode 166 of the Learning for Good podcast.

Additional Resources Just for You

Other Helpful Podcast Episodes:

Subscribe to the Nonprofit L&D Insiders.

Join the Nonprofit L&D Collective.

Support the Learning for Good Podcast

Become a sponsor.

Ask a question or suggest a topic.

We love hearing from listeners!