Chris Lambert

Chris Lambert Speaking Topics

• To, For, or With: The Leadership Decision that Determines Impact

  Too often, well-intentioned leaders attempt to create change to or for communities, only to unintentionally cause harm, mistrust, or resistance. In this powerful and deeply personal keynote, Chris Lambert shares the real story behind founding Life Remodeled and leading one of Detroit’s most successful neighborhood revitalization initiatives.

  Through firsthand experiences, including intense community opposition, painful leadership missteps, and transformational relationships, Chris invites audiences to rethink how change is created. He introduces a simple but profound framework: revitalization done to communities leads to displacement, revitalization done for communities reinforces dependency, but revitalization done with communities unlocks trust, dignity, and sustainable impact.

  Audiences are taken inside the creation of the Durfee Innovation Society, a repurposed vacant school now serving more than 25,000 children, youth, and adults annually through 34 mission-driven organizations. Chris illustrates how authentic community partnership led not only to improved academic outcomes, expanded access to healthcare, workforce development, and economic mobility, but also to measurable reductions in crime and a dramatic increase in neighborhood thriving.

  This keynote blends data, storytelling, and humility to offer leaders a new lens on power, privilege, trust, and accountability. It is especially impactful for nonprofit leaders, foundation partners, civic organizations, and anyone committed to creating lasting, equitable change.

  Attendee Results/Takeaways

  • Understand the difference between doing work to, for, and with communities, and why it matters
  • Learn how trust is built (and rebuilt) when leadership goes wrong
  • Gain practical insights for community-centered leadership and collaboration
  • Rethink power, privilege, and accountability in change initiatives
  • Leave inspired to lead transformation that is sustainable, inclusive, and deeply human

• Strategic Planning that Actually Works

  Most nonprofit organizations with annual revenue exceeding $1M have a strategic plan, but far fewer see that plan meaningfully shape daily decisions, priorities, or outcomes. In this practical and highly actionable keynote, Chris Lambert tackles one of the most common frustrations leaders face: investing significant time and energy into strategic planning, only to watch the plan stall after approval.

  Drawing from his experience leading multiple nonprofits and advising leadership teams across the country, Chris reveals why traditional strategic planning often fails, not because of bad intentions, but because of misaligned systems, unclear ownership, and a lack of embedded accountability. He challenges the idea that strategy is a document and reframes it as an ongoing leadership discipline.

  This talk equips leaders with a clear, repeatable framework for turning vision into execution. Chris shows how to align boards, leadership teams, staff, and funders around a shared set of priorities; how to define ownership so strategy doesn’t live in committees; and how to create rhythms of accountability that keep plans alive long after the retreat ends.

  Ideal for executive directors, senior leadership teams, boards, and association audiences, this keynote replaces frustration with clarity and momentum, helping organizations move from aspirational goals to measurable impact.

  Attendee Results/Takeaways

  • Understand why most strategic plans stall, and how to avoid common failure points
  • Learn how to embed accountability and ownership into the planning process
  • Gain tools to align boards, leadership teams, staff, and funders around clear priorities
  • Discover how to turn strategic goals into daily decisions and behaviors
  • Leave with a practical framework to drive execution, momentum, and measurable results

• Culture & Capacity: Getting the Right People in the Right Seats

  One of the most difficult and consequential responsibilities of leadership is answering a deceptively simple question: Do we have the right people in the right seats? In this highly practical and candid keynote, Chris Lambert introduces nonprofit leaders to a clear, data-informed framework for assessing team fit without relying solely on intuition or emotion.

  Drawing from the Next Level Nonprofit operating system, Chris unpacks the Culture & Capacity Assessment, a tool designed to help leaders consistently evaluate performance, alignment, and potential. Leaders learn how to distinguish between culture fit and capacity fit, why both matter, and how misalignment in either area can quietly undermine organizational health, staff morale, donor trust, and mission impact.

  Through real-world examples and stories from decades of nonprofit leadership, Chris walks audiences through how great leaders hire, recognize, coach, and, when necessary, make difficult decisions with clarity, compassion, and courage. He reframes performance management as an act of care, not punishment, and challenges leaders to replace ruinous empathy with honest, supportive accountability.

  This talk equips leaders with a shared language and repeatable approach for coaching, feedback, and decision-making, helping organizations build strong teams where excellence is celebrated, challenges are addressed early, and people are empowered to thrive in the roles that best fit them.

  Attendee Results/Takeaways

  • Learn how to assess team members using clear Culture and Capacity criteria
  • Understand the difference between a culture fit issue and a capacity fit issue
  • Gain tools for giving candid feedback with high affirmation and high challenge
  • Discover how to address people-challenges before they damage morale and impact
  • Leave with a practical framework to strengthen teams, accountability, and trust

• The Weekly: How High-Performing Leadership Teams Make Better Decisions, Faster

  Most leadership team meetings are too long, poorly structured, and surprisingly unproductive. In this highly practical keynote, Chris Lambert introduces The Weekly, a proven 90-minute leadership team meeting framework that transforms how executive teams communicate, make decisions, and hold one another accountable.

  Drawing from the Next Level Nonprofit operating system and years of real-world implementation, Chris shows leaders how to replace status updates, side conversations, and decision paralysis with clarity, momentum, and unity. Attendees learn how a consistent weekly rhythm, run the same day and time, with clear rhythyms and roles, becomes the engine that drives execution, alignment, and trust across an organization.

  Chris walks audiences through the structure of The Weekly, from trust-building check-ins and metric reviews to disciplined accountability tracking and courageous, focused discussions around the organization’s most pressing opportunities. He introduces the concept of “rumbling well,” engaging in healthy conflict with curiosity, vulnerability, and respect, so leadership teams can surface real issues and move confidently toward next steps.

  This talk is ideal for executive directors, senior leadership teams, boards, and organizations navigating growth or complexity. Leaders leave with a repeatable meeting framework that helps teams make better decisions faster, stay aligned on priorities, and build a culture of transparency and shared ownership.

  Attendee Results/Takeaways

  • Learn how to run a highly engaging, 90-minute weekly leadership team meeting
  • Gain a clear structure for accountability, alignment, and decision-making
  • Discover how to surface and solve the right problems, not just the urgent ones
  • Understand how to build trust and healthy conflict through “rumbling well”
  • Leave with a practical framework to improve execution, unity, and momentum