Burnout is no longer a personal problem. It’s a workplace crisis — and nowhere is that more true than in the nonprofit sector.

That’s why we created a grant initiative called BREAKWEEK.

Parental leave is a time of major transition — joyful, exhausting, and often overwhelming. Amidst it all, one thing is almost always missing: rest. At R&R, we asked a bold question — what if, instead of adding to the exhaustion, workplaces could help restore some of that rest?

Over the years, I've returned to writer and artist Austin Kleon’s wisdom more times than I can count. His ability to distill creativity into actionable steps has been an inspiration, a compass, and sometimes even a roadmap. The piece below, "Rest like an Artist” is directly inspired by Kleon’s “Read like an Artist” and “Steal like an Artist”. The bottom line: how can we rest like creatives? Here is my take: 

Each organization will receive a $30k grant for their leader to take a 3-month consecutive sabbatical to invest in the organization’s talent that will support the team in the leader’s absence. This grant honors these executives’ significant and longstanding contribution and leadership. The award also looks to provide much-deserved time for leaders to rest and recover. Summatively, our research shows that sabbaticals are a powerful intervention that positively impacts leaders, organizations, and ultimately, the sector.  R&R’s research can be found here.