701. 93% of Funding Gone Overnight: A Case Study in Crisis Leadership - Jennifer Rupp

Episode notes

At 4am on April 3, 2025, Jennifer Rupp's phone wouldn't stop buzzing. 93% of Michigan Humanities ' budget. Gone overnight. What happened next is a story about crisis leadership, radical transparency, and why connection isn't a soft strategy. It's the only strategy. In this episode, you'll hear: What Jennifer did in the first 24 hours after losing 93% of her budget, and why transparency was her most important tool How she decided which programs to cut and which were non-negotiable (and the framework you can use to make those calls) Why "when division is the crisis, connection is the strategy" isn't just a philosophy at Michigan Humanities, it's their entire operating model Jennifer’s One Good Thing: flip the funding triangle. 85% of your money comes from individuals. Are you spending 85% of your time there? This one's going to stay with you.