Leading Beyond Resilience with Tonia Wellons + Part 2: Key Takeaways
About This Episode
Tonia Wellons became president and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation thirty days before COVID-19 shut down the world — and her first major move was to build a ten-year strategic framework.
Not because the future was predictable. Because it wasn't. A plan, she understood, is not a forecast. It is a fixed point, and fixed points are most valuable when everything else is in motion.
Six years later, 100% of her staff report clarity on the organization's mission; six years earlier, that number was 39%. The lesson Carrie draws from Tonia's leadership runs deeper than planning: resilience is not a reserve you stockpile — it lives in the relationships you build, in the honest conversations between funders and partners that no grant agreement can manufacture. And holding steady, Tonia proves, is not the same as standing still.
In this week's reflection, Carrie revisits three lessons from her conversation with Tonia that every leader navigating sustained uncertainty needs to hear. Learn more about the Greater Washington Community Foundation.
-
Carrie Fox:
Hi there and welcome back to Mission Forward. I'm Carrie Fox. As you know, this season we're doing something a little different. After each interview, I am coming back to share what's sticking with me, what I'm still thinking about, and the lessons and insights I don't want us to lose in the busyness of our days.
And so today I'm reflecting on my conversation with Tonia Wellons, president and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. Now, if you haven't listened yet, I encourage you to go back and do just that. But if you don't have time, well, I'm going to give you the most important takeaways that I learned from this conversation.
My first takeaway is that a fixed point matters most when everything else is moving. Tonia was just 30 days into her role as CEO when COVID hit. And what did she do? What did her board do in the middle of all that? They built a 10-year strategic framework. Not three years, not one year, but 10. Because here's what she understood that a lot of leaders can lose sight of in a crisis: the plan isn't a prediction for the future. It's a fixed point. And fixed points are most valuable when everything else is in motion.
Well, that plan was grounding to them, and the proof is in the numbers. Six years ago, 39% of Greater Washington Community Foundation staff said they were clear on the organization's mission. Today, it's 100%. And that's not an accident. That's what happens when you hold the line on your North Star, even when the path keeps shifting.
Her second lesson is that resilience isn't just a reserve that you build — it's in the relationships you build. Tonia talked so honestly about how tired nonprofit leaders are. Ten consecutive years of crisis. Ten years of projecting confidence, raising money, responding to need, and holding vision all at once. And the weight of that is very real.
But what she also said, and this is what I want you to hold on to, is that resilience lives in relationships between boards and executives, between foundations and nonprofits, between funders who explain their thinking, and the partners who name their weaknesses. Well, that kind of trust does not come from a grant agreement. It comes from honest conversation that happened again and again and again.
And the last takeaway is that holding steady is not the same as standing still. Tonia's foundation granted a record $70 million last year. National philanthropic support for the DC region hit an all-time high on her watch. None of that happened because the environment got easier. It happened because she and her team stayed anchored in mission, in community, in values. And they kept moving forward even through the hard days.
And that's the lesson I want to leave with you today. In a moment that keeps asking so much of you to react, to respond, to pivot, Tonia is a reminder that the most powerful thing you can do is know what you stand for and not let go of it.
That's my reflection for this week, my friends. If you have not heard the full conversation with Tonia Wellons, or if you have and want to listen again, I tell you it is worth it. So go back and listen. It is one of my favorites from this season. Until next time, my friends, keep your mission moving forward. And thanks.
