Leading With Depth and Intention: Reflections From Our 2025 Impact Report
A year for building deeper, not faster
2025 asked a lot of the social impact sector.
Organizations faced shifting funding, staffing changes, and growing uncertainty. And yet, the need for thoughtful, values-aligned work only grew more urgent.
What stood out to me last year was less a call to do more, and more a reminder to do things with intention: to slow down, to focus, and to invest in deeper, more lasting roots rather than chasing breadth or speed.
At Sunflower, this meant leaning into community, sharpening strategy, and helping organizations tell stories that matter - stories that strengthen relationships, build trust, and reflect the real impact they are creating.
Our 2025 Impact Report captures this season of growth. Here are some reflections and highlights, and why they matter for anyone working in social impact.
Relationships over transactions
One of the clearest lessons from 2025 is that impact grows when people do not work in isolation. Connections matter more than content - content is just the tool.
We saw this in our new Sunflower Roundtable Series, where 150+ participants explored topics like AI and Ethics, sustaining purpose during sector-wide cuts, and navigating change with integrity.
We saw it in our online course and Slack community, where leaders across countries shared feedback, learned from one another, and built confidence in their storytelling.
And we saw it in mentorship relationships, workshops, and partnerships with universities, accelerators, and foundations, where early stage entrepreneurs looked to grow together.
The pattern was clear: people do not just need tools. They need spaces to reflect, learn, and grow together.
Community is not a side project. It is how strategic communications take root. Strong relationships amplify impact, deepen understanding, and ensure stories reach the people who matter most.
Clarity over volume
Another key shift this year at Sunflower was a focus on strategic, high-level communications. Many organizations do not need more content. They need more clarity:
Who they are speaking to
Which stories matter most
How communications connect to real organizational goals
In practice, this meant reimagining our quarterly strategies to be visual, holistic, and integrated, connecting audience insights, storytelling priorities, content planning, and performance tracking in one framework.
The outcome was measurable:
139.5% increase in impressions across campaigns
68% growth in reach across social channels for multiple clients
1.1M+ annual LinkedIn views for Miller Center for Global Impact
46K+ campaign views and 100%+ increase in link clicks for Natün Guatemala
63K+ LinkedIn views and 64% interaction growth for the Luis von Ahn Foundation Visionary Award campaign
These numbers matter - but what matters more is what they represent: clear, intentional storytelling builds relationships, strengthens trust, and extends the reach of impact.
What intentional work looks like
Our 2025 work spanned strategy, branding, websites, campaigns, and capacity building across six countries, with focus areas including education, women’s equality, health, and climate.
A few examples:
NAACP San José/Silicon Valley branch: We rebuilt a complex website into an accessible platform that encourages connection and advocacy.
Eduk’at: We developed a first visual brand identity grounded in Indigenous symbolism while embracing a bold, contemporary look.
Miller Center for Global Impact: We strengthened their LinkedIn presence through authority-driven, story-centered content.
In every project, our intention was the same: honor the work, respect the community, tell the story with care.
Slow, steady, and education-first
2025 also reinforced our belief that capacity building and education are central to lasting impact.
We launched Crafting Your Narrative, an online storytelling course in English and Spanish, paired with live office hours and a supportive Slack community.
We developed an AI and communications training program for Propel’s Nonprofit Academy and partnered with FOCUS Central America to extend course access to their network of grantees.
I also had the opportunity to mentor and facilitate workshops with Seed Spot, Humber College, and the University of Toronto - helping early-stage entrepreneurs deepen their ideas, refine messaging, and strengthen pitches.
Through all of this, our stance on AI remains: we are the strategists, AI is the tool. Intentional use of technology supports thoughtful, grounded storytelling rather than replacing it.
Growing strong roots internally
None of this is possible without a strong internal foundation.
In 2025, we invested in personalized professional development and deepened our Monthly Learning Lab sessions, exploring topics from documentary storytelling to DEI messaging, team dynamics, and creative experimentation.
This slow, intentional investment in our team ensures that every member leads with curiosity, care, and critical thinking—because strong communications start from within.
Moving forward with calm confidence
Looking back, 2025 was not about speed. It was about clarity, depth, and intention.
We chose:
Depth over breadth
Community over isolation
Thoughtful storytelling over noise
As we enter 2026, we aim to continue deepening work in:
Education and capacity building
Strategic thought partnership and mentorship
Internal communications and stronger teams
Community and collaboration
If you want to see the full story - including data, case studies, and lessons learned—you can download the 2025 Impact Report.
Download the 2025 Impact Report
Thank you for being part of the Sunflower community. Your work matters. And the stories you tell matter. Intentional storytelling builds trust, strengthens relationships, and makes impact visible in ways numbers alone cannot.
If you are interested in working together in 2026, I would love to connect - book a call with me here.
