Navigating the Future: Innovative Leadership Strategies for Today’s Nonprofits

Emily Taylor, the Principal of teenyBIG, is passionate about helping nonprofits find better ways to engage the people who matter to them. She guides teams in stepping outside of their day-to-day work to meet stakeholders where they are, building stronger relationships and providing better outcomes.

Emily’s work uses the process of strategic listening, a human-centered approach that re-evaluates the experience of a product or service through its end user. Using qualitative research and evaluation methods, she can help nonprofits better understand a donor segment before engaging with them or learn about the strengths and opportunities of their organization through the eyes of its community.

She also designs and facilitates workshops to help teams understand and apply what is learned from this research. She has helped design user-focused strategies on everything from public health and arts advocacy to community chambers.

Emily’s approach in this area is based on her background as an Executive Director, consulting for a diverse range of nonprofit clients, and conducting audience research using human-centered design. She has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She proudly serves on the board of Onward Neighborhood House, and is a community representative of her local Chicago Public School.