Written in partnership with Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee.
More than a year has passed since Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee joined the DBD Group team for two learning sessions focused on identity, difference, communication, and building stronger relationships.
The conversations have stayed with us and continue.
That may be one of the best measures of meaningful learning. Not whether we remember every slide or concept, but whether something changes the questions we ask, the assumptions we notice, and the way we approach the people around us.
When we recently reconnected to reflect on those sessions, we kept coming back to one idea: the goal isn’t to arrive at a place where we know everything. The goal is to keep learning.
For nonprofit leaders, that distinction matters.
The nonprofit organizations we serve exist in communities filled with different experiences, perspectives, communication styles, motivations, and ideas about what matters. We work with employees, volunteers, donors, board members, partners, and community members who may experience the very same conversation in very different ways.
Leading well requires us to remain curious about those differences.
Cultural competency isn’t something we finish.
There is no point at which a leader can say, “I understand people now.”
Instead, the work is ongoing. We learn. We practice. We get something wrong. We listen. We reflect. We adjust. And we keep going.
Rosetta offers an analogy that makes the point especially well: think about bias like plaque on your teeth. You don’t brush once and declare the job finished. Maintenance is part of the practice.
Organizations aren’t so different.
It is relatively easy to generate enthusiasm around a workshop, retreat, strategic planning process, new organizational commitment, or culture initiative. The harder work comes six months or a year later, when attention has moved elsewhere and familiar habits begin to return.
As we reflected on what helps organizations sustain this work, we kept returning to curiosity. Not curiosity as a personality trait, but as an intentional leadership practice.
Those questions aren’t separate from good leadership. They are part of it.
Consider a capital campaign.
Organizations spend significant time determining what they need to raise and developing a compelling case for why donors should support it. But there is another question worth asking:
Are we assuming everyone sees the value of this investment in the same way?
They probably don’t.
One community may place tremendous value on access. Another may respond to opportunity, belonging, tradition, family, education, economic mobility, or creating something for the next generation.
Even within the same community, people bring different experiences and priorities to their philanthropy.
This is where the ideas we explored together become highly practical. Cultural effectiveness isn’t simply about understanding differences. It is about recognizing that those differences influence how people communicate, what they value, how they build trust, and ultimately how they engage with the nonprofit organizations we serve.
Understanding those differences doesn’t mean developing a different mission for every audience. It means becoming curious enough to understand what connects people to the mission in the first place.
That curiosity can make us better fundraisers, communicators, board members, strategists, and leaders.
It can also help us recognize whose voices have traditionally shaped our organizations and whose perspectives might help us see something we have missed.
Continual learning can sound exhausting if we imagine the goal is to become an expert in every identity, culture, community, or experience we encounter.
It isn’t.
One idea Rosetta encouraged us to consider is moving away from the expectation of becoming culturally competent, as though competency is something we can eventually achieve and check off a list. Instead, we can work toward becoming more culturally effective.
That means respecting that differences exist, recognizing that our own perspective is not universal, and being willing to learn when we encounter something we don’t understand.
There is humility in that approach. And, perhaps, some relief.
We don’t need to have all the answers before we engage with someone whose experience differs from our own. We can replace “I already know” with “Tell me more.”
We can become comfortable enough with uncertainty to ask a question.
And we can recognize that what we intended to communicate isn’t necessarily what another person heard or experienced.
That was at the heart of both sessions Rosetta facilitated with our team. Courageous conversation and cross-cultural communication aren’t about saying everything perfectly. They are about developing the awareness and skills to stay engaged when communication becomes complicated.
At DBD Group, one of our commitments is simple: Everyone Means Everyone.
We want every individual to feel welcomed, valued, heard, and empowered to thrive. We also know that living up to that commitment requires more than stating it.
It requires us to keep practicing.
To stay curious.
To notice when comfortable habits return.
To seek perspectives that may challenge our own.
And to accept that meaningful learning doesn’t have a finish line.
That may be one of the most important things we carried forward from our time together.
Our communities will keep changing. The people we work alongside will keep teaching us. New perspectives will challenge old assumptions. A nonprofit leader’s responsibility isn’t to know everything about everyone we hope to serve, engage, employ, or inspire.
It is to remain willing to learn.
Because organizations that keep learning are better positioned to listen well, communicate across difference, build authentic relationships, and ultimately serve their communities more effectively.
So perhaps the question isn’t “Have we done this work?”
It’s “How are we continuing it?”
| Thank you Rosetta! Learn more about her and her work. |