In this week's reflection, Carrie draws out three lessons from her conversation with Amanda Kwong, director of the Public Health Communications Collaborative at the de Beaumont Foundation.

When the words that once built trust start closing doors instead, how do you keep communicating — and keep people listening? Amanda Kwong, director of the Public Health Communications Collaborative at the de Beaumont Foundation, joins Carrie to talk about the art of plain language, the politics of the words we choose, and what it looks like to lead a public health communications network of 40,000 through one of the most turbulent moments in recent memory.

Thirty days into a new CEO role, COVID arrived — and Tonia Wellons responded by building a ten-year plan. This week, Carrie Fox reflects on why that counterintuitive decision is still the right lesson for every leader navigating a world that keeps demanding reaction.

When the pandemic hit, Tonia Wellons had been CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation for thirty days — and instead of retreating to short-term thinking, she and her board committed to a ten-year plan. In this conversation with Carrie Fox, she explains why a fixed point on the horizon is most valuable precisely when everything else is in motion.

Carrie reflects on the findings that stuck with her from the 2026 Insights on Purpose™ report — including the tension between how hard leaders say it is and how much impact they still believe is possible. A new companion format this season, designed to help you hold onto what matters most from each conversation.

The work of holding communities together hasn’t changed—but this moment is asking more. In Season 12 of Mission Forward, Carrie Fox takes you behind the new research and into the decisions leaders are making to keep their missions moving.