Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken, Principal Consultant at Five Oaks Consulting, joins Chris Meyer zu Natrup, Founder and MD of MzN International, for a 3-part short podcast series in which they have candid, thought-provoking – and somewhat provocative – conversations about the future of the nonprofit sector and the mindsets and mental models that shape the organisations of today.

In part 1 of the series, “Chasing Innovation”, Chris and Tosca explore if nonprofits are at risk of becoming obsolete and what they need to do to survive and thrive in a modern, digital world. They discuss what leaders can do to transform their organisations into better-equipped problem solvers and innovators while the world is facing a climate crisis, a pandemic and a myriad of other challenges.

In part 2, “Chasing Funding”, they delve into the topic of the never-ending funding cycle and the seemingly outdated business model which most NGOs are forced to adopt. They assess why some organisations continue to grow while others stagnate and what NGO leaders can do to make their funding and business models more sustainable.

In part 3 of the series, “Chasing Impact”, Chris and Tosca ask themselves if nonprofits can truly make and measure the impact they set out to achieve. They explore why some organisations do not create the impact they desire despite the time and expenses they invest in their programs and what they can do to create a more learning- and evidence-driven culture.

Who is Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken?

Tosca has worked on international development and civil society issues for 30 years, in practice, in academia and as an independent consultant. Her work with INGO leaders focuses on governance, change management, organizational culture, leadership development and organizational effectiveness of INGOs. While her practitioner background was mainly grounded in the international development sector, her research, senior leadership development as well as change management work has focused on clients across a multitude of sectors. Tosca is a public thought leader and co-author of the book ‘Between Power and Irrelevance: the Future of Transnational NGOs’ and host of the podcast NGO Soul+Strategy. She also founded an online course on virtual team leadership skills. The name of Tosca’s consulting practice, Five Oaks Consulting, is a translation of her difficult-to-pronounce Dutch last name. :-)

You can find the links to Tosca’s services, podcast, blog and co-authored book here: 

  • Five Oaks overall consulting + coaching profile
  • Podcast NGO Soul+Strategy
  • Tosca’s co-authored book ‘Between Power and Irrelevance: the Future of Transnational NGOs’ (2020, Oxford Uni Press, with George Mitchell, Hans Peter Schmitz as co-authors and Barney Tallack as a contributor)
  • Online course offering: Post-Pandemic Virtual Team Leadership Skill Essentials
  • Tosca’s blog posts as well as those of guest bloggers
  • Tosca offers speaking engagements to staff, senior leadership teams and/or boards

Tosca’s free mini-course 5 Steps to Turbocharge Your Virtual Team Leadership is now live and open for enrollment! This mini-course will help you ensure that your virtual team keeps ‘humming’, is delivering top performance and deals effectively with conflict, while you do not burn out – and you rediscover the joy of working together!

Her full, fee-based and cohort-based course Post-Pandemic Virtual Team Leadership Essentials is now also open for enrollment! Five Oaks wants you to experience what it’s like to once again find joy in your team leadership.


Intro Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/fugu-vibes/spatial
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