When I first began collecting and sharing leadership tips, I never imagined the reach they might have. This month, a free online certificate course based on my booklet, Applied Wisdom for the Nonprofit Sector, was launched by the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation through their free open online learning portals NonprofitReady.org and DisasterReady.org—with a combined subscriber base of over a million people.
Titled Leadership Essentials Certificate, the curriculum includes three courses and an exam. It’s the result of a year-long collaboration between my team and theirs. Together, we adapted Applied Wisdom for a global audience, working closely with an instructional designer to create a highly interactive and engaging online experience. The goal was not just to share leadership insights but to make them actionable, accessible, and relevant for nonprofit leaders and humanitarian aid workers worldwide – and all at no cost to the learner.
This spring, Leadership Essentials Certificate will be translated into French, Spanish, and Arabic, making training on this critical topic accessible to nonprofits and aid workers in some of the toughest places on the planet.
At the heart of this collaboration is a shared commitment to equipping and encouraging nonprofit leaders, helping them become more effective in their vital work. These leaders are on the front lines addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges, and our mission is to support them with practical, proven insights.
NonprofitReady and DisasterReady are programs of the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation (CSODF), powered by its Learning Management System. Both programs provide high-quality online training resources tailored to nonprofit professionals and humanitarian aid workers at no cost. NonprofitReady provides courses on essential topics such as fundraising, financial management, and governance, while DisasterReady focuses on equipping humanitarians with skills to respond to crises in an effective and safe way. By combining learning system technology and subject matter expertise, CSODF ensures that nonprofit and humanitarian professionals worldwide have access to the training they need—when and where they need it, most at no cost.