A virtual Peer-2-Peer event for Communications and Marketing Professionals
Team health and burnout are the quiet crisis in under-resourced nonprofit comms shops. Everyone’s thinking this, and no one’s saying it out loud. A practical, honest look at leading a high-performing comms team when the work never runs out — boundaries, delegation, and how to protect the “best and highest use” of your best people (including yourself).
Mission agency comms teams are often small, high-capacity, and perpetually behind — which means burnout isn’t a risk, it’s a default setting. This session is a candid, practical look at how to lead a comms team sustainably without sacrificing quality or momentum. This is a leadership talk for anyone working in nonprofit comms who is tired of choosing between “protect the team / your time” and “get the work done” — because you shouldn’t have to.
Drawing on real experience leading a six-person comms team at a global missions agency, this talk covers the systems and mindset shifts that make sustainable leadership possible: how to structure delegation so your best people are working at their “best and highest use,” how project management can protect focus time instead of just tracking tasks, and how understanding your own leadership wiring (in this case, an Enneagram Type 1’s pull toward high standards and completionism) can either fuel burnout or, managed well, become a source of team strength.
Attendees will leave with concrete frameworks — not just encouragement — for auditing where their own time and their team’s time is going, redistributing ownership without losing quality control, and building the kind of team culture where high standards and healthy boundaries aren’t in conflict.
Presenter:
Holly McAfee is Director of Communications at Serge, an international Christian missions agency. She leads the marketing and communications team and has 15+ years in marketing and brand leadership in the nonprofit missions sector. She speaks candidly about building sustainable, high-standard teams without burning them — or herself — out.
Missio Nexus encourages interaction on diverse and difficult topics. Be aware that the information shared in this event may not reflect the views of the Missio Nexus staff, board, or other community members. Virtual events are recorded and the recordings are available as a MEMBER ONLY resource in our Media Library.
