Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything.
In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Nicole Eck, Chief Strategy Officer at the ALS Association, the nonprofit leading the global fight to make ALS a livable disease.
Together, they explore the moment when the ALS Association moved away from chasing short-term fundraising goals and instead made a bold long-term bet: to make ALS livable by 2030.
The bold strategic bet
Fueled by the unexpected windfall of the Ice Bucket Challenge—which raised $115M in 60 days—the ALS Association faced a choice: double down on short-term revenue targets or aim for a transformational goal. Nicole and her team chose the latter.
They reorganized the entire Association, merging 20 chapters into a single unified organization, embedding accountability into every initiative, and aligning stakeholders around one question: Does this make ALS livable?
It wasn’t the obvious choice. Skepticism was high, progress in ALS had been slow, and “livable” was a concept many in the community struggled to define. But with new therapies reversing symptoms in patients and unprecedented global collaboration, Nicole and her team saw the chance to reframe the fight against ALS forever.
In this episode:
How the Ice Bucket Challenge reshaped the ALS landscape
Why “making ALS livable” was a radical break from traditional nonprofit goals
The internal restructuring required to align 20 organizations into one
The early signs that a livable future for ALS patients is possible
What other leaders can learn from betting on long-term change over short-term wins
👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 15 minutes and laser-focused on one transformational decision that shaped the future of a company—or in this case, an entire cause.
