Jane Austen Leadership Parlor

Timeless wisdom for modern leadership.

Where wit, whimsy, & conversation build community.

Including Nonprofit (Non)Sense & Sensibility for social impact leaders.

Why Austen for Leaders?

  1. She’s a social strategist.
    Austen wrote not about battles or revolutions, but about how people wield influence quietly through language, relationships, and social nuance. That’s… the workplace and especially in nonprofit life.

  2. She reveals power without shouting about it.
    If you’ve ever had to manage a board, steward a controlling funder, or run a staff meeting where someone thinks being loud equals being right, you’ve been in an Austen plot.

  3. She builds enduring characters.
    Her characters are flawed, complex, and deeply human. So are our colleagues, our donors, and ourselves. Austen invites us to see character, not just job titles.

  4. She champions reflection.
    Growth in Austen’s world doesn’t come from dominance. It comes from recognizing when you were wrong and doing better.

“Austen is the container.

But the content is lived experience.

This is not nostalgia. It’s narrative disruption.”

— Beverly Hamilton, Ph.D. & Founder, The Austen Leadership Parlor