2026 EXCEL Finalist – Dixon Osburn

Tell us about your leadership style and how this contributes to your organization’s success. 

My leadership style is connective, transparent, and pragmatic. I see my role as creating the conditions in which talented people can do their best work: connecting people and ideas, making complexity intelligible, and building the resources, systems, and relationships that turn good ideas into action. 

That approach has been particularly important at ISD-US, where we have grown rapidly while working across issues that are themselves increasingly interconnected—from terrorism and hate to foreign interference, online harms, elections, AI, and democratic resilience. With the increasing spotlight on civil society today, I have had to balance protecting the organization and its staff with our commitment to transparency and professional engagement. Preparing for that possibility in advance, communicating candidly with staff, and putting the right legal and organizational infrastructure in place allowed us to be ready to respond constructively if and when necessary. 

I do not believe the Executive Director needs to have every answer. My job is to make sure the right people are in the room, understand how their expertise contributes to the larger mission, and have what they need to succeed. 

I also try to lead with steadiness and transparency when circumstances are difficult. People can handle uncertainty when they understand what is happening, what the organization is doing about it, and what is expected of them. That has helped us build trust and cohesion across a geographically dispersed organization while navigating significant external pressures. 

Ultimately, I measure my leadership by whether the institution becomes more capable, resilient, and connected—not by how much of the work depends on me. 

What advice would you offer other nonprofit leaders?

First, don’t confuse leadership with having all the answers. The challenges nonprofits face are often too complex for any one person—or organization—to solve. A leader’s job is to create the conditions for collective intelligence: bring the right people together, make the problem understandable, and help turn insight into action. 

Second, build the institutional infrastructure before you think you need it. When an organization is growing, programs and fundraising naturally command attention. But governance, financial management, legal and risk systems, talent development, communications, and organizational culture are what allow that growth to withstand pressure and endure. 

At ISD, this meant ensuring our analysts could connect their insights into multiple impact channels from mayors and local officials to state officials and agencies to corporate leaders and policy makers. There is a tendency to mimic the film Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. The best leaders see the full picture and build out to fulfill the mission systematically. 

Finally, I’d advise leaders to be a connector. Some of the most consequential things a nonprofit leader can do are not things they build themselves. They are connections they create between people, institutions, ideas, and resources that otherwise might never meet. Leadership is sometimes about creating something new; just as often, it is about seeing the possibility in what already exists and helping it work together. 

The goal isn’t to become indispensable. It is to build an organization that can accomplish more because you have helped the right people and capabilities connect. 

What does this award mean for you and your organization?

Personally, the recognition is meaningful because nonprofit leadership is often an exercise in looking ahead to the next challenge. It is valuable to have a moment to pause and reflect on what has been accomplished—and to have that work recognized by peers. 

But I am especially proud of what the recognition means for ISD-US. When I became its first Executive Director in 2023, the U.S. organization was still in its early stages. We have since grown into a nearly 50-person organization, building the funding, governance, legal, management, and partnership infrastructure necessary to support a much broader portfolio of work. Today, that work ranges from identifying foreign interference and emerging digital threats to helping cities and communities build resilience and connecting research with the institutions capable of acting on it. 

The EXCEL Award therefore recognizes something that can be less visible than our research and programs: the importance of building the institution that makes that work possible. It also shines a light on the people who make ISD-US successful. This is not the achievement of one leader. It reflects the talent and commitment of our staff, the engagement of our board, and the many partners who have helped us build a stronger organization. 

I hope the recognition brings greater visibility and credibility to ISD-US within the Washington nonprofit and civic community and creates new opportunities for our work and our people. Most of all, I see it as encouragement to keep building an institution capable of bringing people together around difficult problems and turning knowledge into meaningful action.