Join us for an honest conversation about the isolation of leadership, the myth of doing it all alone, and what changes when social impact leaders build in community instead.
We build organizations to serve others, but who's checking in on the people carrying the weight of building them?
Our upcoming roundtable will explore leadership isolation, building cultures of support, and how founders are learning to lead in community instead of alone.
Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Time: 8 am PT / 9 am MT / 11 am ET / 5 pm CEST
Location: Call link shared after registration
Duration: 1 hour
Meet Your HostS
Nina Staer Nathan
Founder & CEO at sunflower communicationsNina is the founder of Sunflower Communications, a strategic communications agency working with foundations, accelerators, and nonprofits shaping the impact sector, building the narrative and positioning behind their communications.
Alongside Sunflower, Nina mentors early-stage entrepreneurs and students through Humber College's Longo Centre for Entrepreneurship, supporting the next generation of purpose-led founders.
She holds a Philosophy and Psychology degree from York University and a postgraduate in Project Management and International Development from Humber College, and received the 2023 BMO x Humber College Women's Entrepreneurship Pitch Award.
Audrey Selian
Audrey Selian is Director of Artha Impact at Rianta Capital Zurich AG, where she has led the Singh Family Trust's impact investment advisory work since 2006. She has overseen dozens of investments across India in health, livelihoods, WASH, agribusiness and energy, focused on inclusive, last-mile solutions.
She is co-founder of Artha Networks Inc., a platform supporting investor collaboration and deal discovery, and of Impact for Breakfast, a global community of impact investors across 50+ cities. Audrey holds a Ph.D. in Technology Policy from Tufts' Fletcher School and is based in Geneva.
DIRECTOR, ARTHA IMPACT AT RIANTA CAPITAL 
What to Expect
An interactive hour grounded in the realities of building something before anyone else believes in it: the conviction founders carry alone, the pace that leaves no room to ask for help, and the community that could change that. We'll look at how this shifts depending on whether you're a founder, funder, team leader or mentor.
key themes
The Solo-Hero Myth: Where does the pressure to prove you can do it all alone come from, and why do founders keep carrying convictions nobody else has to carry yet? What changes once a founder stops and lets community in?
Building Beyond the Myth: What becomes possible when founders and the people who support them (funders, mentors, peer groups) design relationships around real support instead of proving toughness? What does community change for a leader, and for the organizations they build?
WHY THIS MATTERS
Our work is mission-driven and can be all-consuming, and for many leaders, the isolation that comes with the role goes unspoken until it becomes a problem.
In a sector that runs on conviction, decision-making, and endurance, the real questions become:
What does it cost a founder to keep proving, deal after deal, that they can do this alone?
Who actually shows up when you're the one who has to decide, and why does that person matter more than the next funding round?
What changes once a leader stops building alone and starts building in community?
This roundtable creates space to examine the isolation that shapes leadership in the impact sector, and to share honest reflections on what founders, funders, and mentors are learning about community, connection, and support."
This Roundtable is part of a series.
Hundreds of people have joined us to talk about the things that matter most while doing purpose-driven work. We’ve discussed topics such as AI & Ethics, Staying Connected to Purpose, Women in Social Impact, and The Creative Tension, with guest speakers such as Hannah Töpler from Intrare, Emiliano Iturriaga from Rutopía, Jessica Loman from Opportunity Collaboration, and Nora DiNuzzo from Pitcher.
This will be our 5th event in the series - we hope you’ll join us!