There’s a kind of exhaustion in nonprofit leadership that doesn’t get named enough – especially for leaders of color. It’s not just the workload; it’s the constant calculation of how to navigate systems, manage perceptions, advocate for communities, and lead through uncertainty while often carrying disproportionate emotional and cultural labor.
As a Puerto Rican woman in nonprofit leadership, I have experienced firsthand the tension between advancing organizational goals and navigating systems that were not designed with leaders like me in mind. Conversations with leaders across New England highlighted in TSNE’s Leadership New England 2026 report, as well as research from Building Movement Project and the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, have shown that while many leaders enter the nonprofit sector because of their commitment to making a difference in the world, they experience high rates of burnout. The high demands and limited resources of nonprofit work create a stressful environment, and the uncertainty of the current political climate has directly impacted many nonprofits and the communities that they serve.
Nonprofit leadership often requires leaders to quickly adapt and respond to a wide variety of day-to-day operational functions while simultaneously managing long-term priorities. These leaders are holding the mission, the staff, the board, and the funding uncertainty. At the same time, they’re navigating complex interpersonal and organizational dynamics, determining when to push and when it might cost credibility. They’re balancing power, culture, and lived experience. Additionally, leadership often carries equity not just as a value, but as something expected to embody and advance, even when the surrounding systems aren’t built to sustain it. That’s where the burnout deepens. Not from doing the work, but from holding these disconnects and competing priorities.
Dr. Kiara Butler, an Organizational Development Consultant at TSNE, shares her experience as a BIack woman nonprofit founder, illustrating the impact that these factors can have on leaders in the sector.
A Personal Reflection by Dr. Kiara Butler
One of the most destabilizing institutional barriers inside nonprofit organizations is the combination of funding uncertainty and the lack of sustained follow-through on commitments to racial equity. In the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, there was an influx of funding directed toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and anti-racism initiatives. On the surface, this felt like a long overdue investment, but in practice, it created a surge of organizations repositioning themselves to align with what had quickly become a funding priority.
I witnessed nonprofits shift their services to appear more “anti-racist,” not necessarily because of a deep commitment to the work, but because funding was available. In Leadership New England 2026, the research indeed shows that many organizations committed to implementing equitable and inclusive practices in 2020; years later, the follow through is unclear. As the founder of Diversity Talks, an organization that trained 9th–12th grade students to facilitate anti-racism professional development for educators, I found myself competing for funding with organizations engaging in what often felt like performative activism.
The impact was not just financial, it was personal. As a Black woman founder, I was already navigating bias around credibility, leadership, and worth. That moment amplified the pressure. I had to work twice as hard to prove the legitimacy of work I had been committed to long before it became a national priority. My identity was embedded in the work. My mental health, my body, and my lived experience were all on the frontlines. Then, just as quickly as the funding arrived, it shifted. Priorities moved. New focus areas emerged: AI, climate. The language of equity became less visible. I watched organizations, some of which had built entire revenue streams around DEI, begin to quietly remove that language from their websites, and this wasn’t because the work was complete, but because the external political climate made it less comfortable, less fundable, or more risky.
TSNE’s Leadership New England findings reflect and indicate that efforts to address the root causes of bias against leaders of color have stalled. This lack of organizational follow-through reinforces a deeper issue: bias against leaders of color is not just about access; it’s about sustainability. When commitments to equity are conditional, leaders of color are left carrying disproportionate risk. We are expected to lead through complexity, build credibility in systems that were not designed for us, and adapt to shifting priorities, all while our work is more easily questioned, deprioritized, or defunded. The result is burnout, and it isn’t just from the work itself, but from the constant need to navigate systems that signal support in moments of visibility and withdraw it when it becomes inconvenient.
I stepped away from my role as CEO of Diversity Talks in 2023. The organization later sunset in 2025. This was not due to a lack of planning, leadership, or impact. It was the result of an ecosystem that continues to reward performative shifts over sustained commitment, and in doing so, perpetuates the very inequities it claims to address.
What’s Needed Now to Support Nonprofit Leaders
The report is clear: without structural change, we will continue to lose leaders. This is where that change has to start. If nonprofits are serious about addressing what Dr. Butler and the report names, the shift has to show up in how they operate day to day, which requires leadership, governance, and funders to examine the systems and expectations that make leadership unsustainable in the first place.
Four practices from the Leadership New England report point us to how we can better support and create a place for our leaders to grow and thrive:
- For leadership and governance: Examine internal structures, power dynamics, and accountability practices to ensure leadership development opportunities, advancement pathways, and organizational support are accessible and sustainable, especially for leaders of color.
- For leadership and governance: Invest intentionally in sustained equity commitments and prioritize thoughtful onboarding—with attention to the unique challenges and power dynamics faced by leaders of color.
- For funders: Increase multi-year, unrestricted, and general operating support for nonprofits so organizations can stabilize core operations, invest in infrastructure, and plan for long-term leadership sustainability rather than operating in constant survival mode.
- For all stakeholders: Recognize that external political climates and structures directly impact nonprofit leadership and organizational sustainability.
Equity work cannot continue to sit primarily with leaders of color; it needs shared ownership across leadership and governance, with clear accountability and follow-through. Expectations for leaders need to be clearly defined and bounded, with real trade-offs when capacity is limited, instead of quietly expanding roles. Leadership support needs to be funded – not assumed – through intentional onboarding, coaching, and transition support.
Read more in TSNE’s Leadership New England 2026 report.