Recognized as part of the March 2026 San Diego Weekly Standouts Series honoring leaders shaping San Diego, California, the Cali-Baja region, and communities connected to the region around the world.
As the founder of Do Good Leadership Collective, Loretta Turner is working at the intersection of leadership, wellbeing, and social impact, helping nonprofit professionals and mission-driven organizations build sustainable systems that support both their work and the people behind it.
SAN DIEGO, Calif.
The Work Behind the Work
There is a reality inside the nonprofit and social impact sector that often goes unspoken.
The work is meaningful.
The mission is urgent.
The impact is real.
But so is the cost.
Long hours.
Emotional strain.
Chronic under-resourcing.
And a culture that often expects people to give endlessly, even when they have little left.
Loretta Turner knows that reality firsthand.
Because before she began advising organizations, she was living it.
Where It Began: Experience Before Strategy
In 2013, Loretta was working on the frontlines of a grassroots nonprofit, teaching yoga to incarcerated women. The work was deeply meaningful, rooted in care, healing, and connection. But behind that impact was a different experience.
One marked by burnout.
By systemic inequities.
By the constant tension between serving others and having access to the support she herself needed.
At the time, she lacked basic resources, including access to healthcare and mental health support. And while the work was fulfilling, the structure around it was not sustainable.
That contradiction stayed with her.
And over time, it became a question:
What would it look like to build systems that support the people doing the work, not just the work itself?
Building Something That Didn’t Exist
That question became the foundation for Do Good Leadership Collective.
What Loretta created was not just a consulting practice.
It was a response.
A response to burnout.
To workforce inequities.
To a sector that often asks people to carry more than it supports.
Through Do Good Leadership Collective, she partners with social impact organizations to strengthen organizational effectiveness through workplace wellbeing strategy. But more importantly, she focuses on the real issues that keep nonprofit professionals from thriving.
Burnout.
Turnover.
Talent inequities.
Not as abstract ideas.
But as lived realities.
What Her Work Actually Does
Loretta’s work is both strategic and deeply human.
She supports nonprofit teams through:
- wellbeing design and strategy
- coaching and facilitation
- hands-on learning experiences
- culture transformation
Her approach is grounded in helping organizations reduce stress, prevent burnout, and create equitable systems of care within their teams.
But her work doesn’t stop at individual organizations.
She also consults on how the nonprofit sector itself is resourced.
From grantmaking strategies to long-term investment approaches, she works with philanthropic entities and institutions to rethink how support is delivered, not just financially, but structurally.
Because writing a check is not the same as supporting sustainability.
Who She Serves and Why It Matters
Loretta works primarily with social impact leaders, nonprofits, and nonprofit-serving institutions, people who are deeply committed to their missions but often operating within systems that make that commitment harder to sustain.
These organizations are not lacking passion.
They are lacking support systems that match the weight of their work.
What they are seeking is not complicated.
Equitable pay.
Mental health resources.
Competitive employment structures.
Time to rest, including sabbaticals.
In other words, the same level of care they provide to others.
What Makes Her Work Different
Loretta’s approach is rooted in lived experience.
Nearly everyone she has supported works within nonprofits or adjacent sectors like government and philanthropy. She is not an outsider analyzing the system.
She has lived the nonprofit life.
She understands the pressure of fundraising.
The urgency of keeping communities resourced.
And the emotional toll of carrying that responsibility over time.
That perspective shapes everything she builds.
It makes her work not just informed, but credible.
Impact That Is Both Measurable and Personal
The scale of Loretta’s work is significant.
She has facilitated more than 70 sessions, including workshops, retreats, and conference presentations. She has supported dozens of nonprofit teams with culture strategy and completed nearly 500 hours of individual and group coaching.
Through Do Good Leadership Collective, she has hosted over 15 community events, read three books in community, supported more than 80 individual leaders, and worked with 35 nonprofits and 4 philanthropic organizations.
Her reach now spans across 11 states and continues to grow.
But the true impact is not just in numbers.
It’s in retention.
In leaders choosing to stay in the work.
In teams learning how to support one another.
In people realizing they don’t have to sacrifice their wellbeing to serve others.
Voices From the Work
One participant shared, “Do Good Leadership Collective helped my team understand how we can combat burnout together. I probably wouldn’t have stayed in higher education if it wasn’t for this work.”
Another reflected, “These facilitations and gatherings from Do Good Leadership Collective provide the space to share challenges, seek advice, encourage one another, and build meaningful relationships with people who truly understand the work.”
And a development professional added, “Do Good Leadership Collective’s Myth Busting Burnout presentation was engaging, honest, and deeply affirming, sparking meaningful reflection and conversation that fundraisers truly needed.”
These are not surface-level outcomes.
They are indicators of change.
The Values That Guide Her Work
Loretta’s work is grounded in a clear set of principles.
Collective care.
Equity in action.
Co-creation.
Accountability.
Sustainable impact.
These are not just ideas.
They are practices that shape how organizations operate and how people experience their work.
A Larger Shift in How We Think About Care
At its core, Loretta’s work is about changing how the sector defines sustainability.
For too long, sustainability has been measured by funding, outputs, and outcomes.
But not by the wellbeing of the people delivering that impact.
Loretta is helping shift that narrative.
From survival
to sustainability
to actual wellbeing
Why Her Work Matters Now
At a time when burnout is widespread, when workforce retention is a growing concern, and when social impact organizations are being asked to do more with less, Loretta Turner’s work feels both necessary and overdue.
Because the question is no longer whether the work matters.
It does.
The question is whether the people doing it can continue.
And through Do Good Leadership Collective, Loretta is helping ensure that they can.
Learn More
Website
www.dogoodleadershipcollective.com
Feature Article
https://fundthepeople.org/resilience-and-wellbeing/
This recognition is part of the March 2026 San Diego Weekly Standouts Series honoring leaders shaping San Diego, California, the Cali-Baja region, and communities connected to the region around the world.
San Diego Weekly Standouts | March 2026 Honoree
About the San Diego Standouts Series
The San Diego Standouts Series from San Diego Weekly highlights individuals whose leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, and service are helping shape the future of San Diego, California, the Cali-Baja region, and communities connected to the region around the world.
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Profiles featured in the San Diego Standouts Series are selected by the San Diego Weekly editorial team to highlight individuals whose leadership and service are helping shape San Diego and the Cali-Baja region. The Editor’s Choice is for individuals whose impact on San Diego and the broader region is undeniable: the founders redefining industries, the advocates transforming communities, and the visionaries building what comes next. Past and current considerations include civic leaders, nonprofit founders, tech entrepreneurs, educators, creatives, and cultural icons across the San Diego and Cali-Baja region. These editorial recognitions are independent features and honors, there is no fee required to be selected.
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