Battling Burnout Through Life-Affirming Systems (Rachel Currie Triska, VolunteerNow)
“If you have one person in burnout, you can't address it by dealing directly with the symptoms of that person. It's the system that's making people burnout, not individuals.”
Rachel Currie Triska learned the hard way that driving at full speed eventually burns out the engine.
As a CEO, founder, and social change leader, Rachel’s default is high performance. But when burnout brought collapse, she was forced to build a new system: one where restoration is a prerequisite to performance.
At VolunteerNow, she’s uncovering how to make restoration a foundational part of their culture, so community members, volunteers, and nonprofit operators thrive and transform all at once.
In this episode, Rachel shares:
- What severe burnout actually looked like at the height of her leadership role
- How she maintains a life-affirming culture at VolunteerNow™
- Why leaders need to be honest about nationwide economic constraints for nonprofits
Links
Key Takeaways
Embrace change as growth, even if it doesn’t feel like it at first. Honor your limits, and let go of control when efforting through doesn’t cut it. On the other end, you’ll find a healthier leadership style, clear values, and healthy boundaries.
Impact is reciprocal. Get in the room with people different from you and be open to transforming. In your leadership, it builds empathy and stronger relationships. In the communities you serve, it contextualizes better than any mission statement. Both set you up for healthier, more fulfilling work.
Life-affirming systems build sustainable cultures. When we’re intentional, we can build cultures that protect and restore, not drain or extract. In Rachel’s words, “how can we get to life-affirming outcomes without having life-affirming work?”
Meet the Guest
Rachel is the CEO of VolunteerNow where she uses life-affirming systems to build population-level solutions. She previously served as the Vice President of External Affairs for CitySquare and the founder and Executive Director for Life in Deep Ellum. Rachel has been named the Champion for the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas and was recognized in the Deep Ellum People campaign honoring historic figures. Rachel’s philanthropic efforts and board seats include the Deep Ellum Foundation, Faith in Texas, the Criminal Justice Coalition of North Texas, and work with the ACLU. She is co-founder of Raise the Arts, which resourced fine arts programs in local urban schools and provided a community grant serving over 10,000 people annually.
