Summer Reading Picks

July 10, 2018

Get to know the Washington Nonprofits Board and Staff members by hearing what we’re reading this Summer. Maybe your next favorite book is on this list!

 

From the Washington Nonprofits Board:

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo is an exploration of the complexities of race, offering insights and knowledge that help us understand and talk about what’s going on.

– Erick Seelbach, Board Member, Tacoma

 

I joined the board of Washington Nonprofits because I believe the nonprofit sector is under appreciated.  We need to do a better job of promoting and advocating for the work we do to support our communities.  Dan’s book, Charity Case, really speaks to this topic in a clear way with actions we can take to do just that!

– Trudy Soucoup, Board Member, Lacey

 

Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time offers insightful tips and practices to get more from your most limited resource: your time. Brian Tracy’s writing is accessible and easily consumed. Each short chapter concludes with how to make the application of an idea or practice.

– Lawson F. Knight, Board President, Walla Walla

 

Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment offers a powerful analysis of the psychological dynamics of oppression and privilege, and shows readers how to develop the skills that can promote social justice for themselves and those around them.

– Laura Armstrong, Board Member, Yakima

 

 

From the Washington Nonprofits Staff:

The Lobbying Strategy Handbook by Pat Libby contains 10 vital steps for effective advocacy that can be used on any issue. A practical must read for anyone looking to produce strategic, compelling, and meaningful campaigns and materials.

– David Streeter, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy

 

The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor highlights seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe. The author,who spent over a decade researching and lecturing at Harvard University on Positive Psychology, shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential. In short, happiness and a positive mind-set is a skill you can develop to become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive to achieve the extraordinary in your work and life. This is a great read for anyone trying to excel in a world of increasing workloads, stress, and negativity.

– Amanda Judd, Director of Operations

Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing has proven steps to inspire confidence and seize new growth. So often we are thinking about our work in the context of other organizations in our space. This book invites us to think outside the box, exploring new frontier solutions that may involve a whole other set of partners.

– Nancy Bacon, Director of Learning and Engagement

 

Housing affordability is a huge issue across the country and in many communities here in Washington. It intersects with dozens of other pressing issues and touches, in some way, nearly every nonprofit’s work. Evicted is a powerful and compelling exposé of the challenges millions of Americans face every day just to live indoors.

– Tom Lang, Learning Program Manager

 

Looking for a new perspective on misogyny? Mary Beard, a professor of classics at the University of Cambridge, explains how women’s relationship to power connects to ancient Greek roots in two essays: The Public Voice of Women and Women in PowerWomen & Power is a short read, but offers a larger awareness of gender dynamics by illuminating ancient and contemporary power structures around women’s participation in society. The reader will gain a nuanced understanding of feminism and walk away with fresh (ancient) anecdotes that give context to today’s world.

– Julia Hunter, Membership & Learning Coordinator

 

As our lives become increasingly complex we may have a tendency to try to implement complex solutions. However, sometimes simple solutions can notably increase our efficiency and effectiveness. The Checklist Manifesto is based on the simple concept of creating and using checklists as a tool for managing complex situations. Examples are based on surgery and emergency room techniques where split second life and death decisions require many steps to be performed quickly and accurately.

– JoAnn Crabtree, Data Manager

 

Have fun in the sun with your summer reading!

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