Big Impact: Insights & Stories from America's Non-Profit Leaders is about change-makers who have found solutions to some of society's greatest, most vexing problems. These dynamic leaders are implementing solutions in their communities, across the U.S. and around the world. Big Impact explores the qualities these leaders possess, their profound insights on lessons learned, and the solutions they are implementing.

The authors interviewed nearly 50 leaders of organizations such as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Skoll Foundation, PBS, Nature Conservancy, Goodwill Industries International and Share Our Strength.

The book combines the authors' findings and recommendations from the interviews on what drives social change, along with some of the top interviews portraying compelling, successful social change leaders. Hartley and Hoexter see this book as a way to amplify the leading voices of the nonprofit sector, to share the secrets of successful social change and to inspire readers to make change in their own communities.

Leaders fascinate us.  

We want to adore them, emulate them and learn from them. In the United States, corporate leaders particularly enthrall us. Visit any bookstore—retail or online—and you will find scores of books about becoming the next Steve Jobs or Sheryl Sandberg. We want to believe their advice can help us achieve the American dream of success and prosperity, through hard work, ingenuity, and regardless of gender, race, religion or the socioeconomic circumstances of birth.

Leaders in the U.S. nonprofit sector are committed to improving the quality of life on this planet, to making available more widely the possibility of achieving the American dream, undergirded by the values of a democratic society: liberty, equality and justice. And while the definition of the American Dream will continue to evolve as it is compared to reality, it serves as a beacon for those who seek to create a “more just, verdant and peaceful world” (from the MacArthur Foundation website).

Inspired by the wise, compassionate and innovative leaders we have met during decades working in and with nonprofit organizations, we set out to write a book about nonprofit leadership.

We interviewed nearly 50 leaders of foundations such as Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Annie E. Casey, Ford, B. Altman, Sy Syms, Skoll, San Francisco Community, Robin Hood, Jim Joseph, William & Flora Hewlett, Newman’s Own, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, United Nations, and the Ms. Foundation for Women. We have also talked with leaders of organizations such as PBS, WNET, WNYC, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Independent Sector, Goodwill Industries International, 92Y, YMCA of the USA, Girl Scouts, United Way Worldwide, Share Our Strength, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, NYU, Bard College, Nature Conservancy, Wave Hill, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, NYC Opera, Freedom to Marry, KaBoom! and Do Something.

What we found was that many of these leaders are effecting positive social change, often without a lot of fanfare or publicity. We decided to pay tribute to what they have learned in their lives and careers and how they and their organizations are making change. Our hope is that this information will be useful to you, the reader, as you strive to make positive changes in your own organizations and communities.

As experts in the global nonprofit and fund-raising community, we help organizations build on their strengths and improve their results. We partner with nonprofits and with businesses working with nonprofits and start-ups that, like nonprofits, need access to funding. For us, hearing the personal, and often profoundly moving, reflections of the nearly 50 leaders we interviewed was affirming and powerful.

Authors Vivien Hoexter and Linda C. Hartley are principals of H2Growth Strategies LLC, which provides counsel on planning, development and governance to mission-driven organizations—nonprofits, foundations and corporations—for improved performance, increased revenues and lasting social impact for a more enlightened world. Through strategic planning, campaigns and board building, the H2 team has partnered with over 100 nonprofits to raise more than $1.5 billion.

Hoexter advises nonprofits and foundations on developing high-impact strategies, marketing more effectively, and increasing contributed and earned revenues. She coaches executives in leadership roles and/or transitioning to new ones. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Hartley offers an integrated approach to planning and development that is informed by an MBA in management from NYU and more than 30 years experience in meeting fundraising goals, working with and training volunteer leadership, directing capital campaigns, and managing development and communications programs for both large and small nonprofit organizations.