06/01/2026
What can emergency medicine teach us about nonprofit leadership, uncertainty, and compost?
Quite a lot, actually.
In this month’s conversation, emergency physician and longtime Toilet Equity board member Bill Hilty reflects on what it means to lead through “the messy middle” — those moments when the path forward isn’t clear, but standing still isn’t an option either.
Together, we talk about:
• how teams function during chaos,
• why strong leaders stay calm before they act,
• how organizations avoid mission drift,
• and why meaningful community change often requires patience, trust, and iteration.
From CPR calls to compost piles, this conversation is thoughtful, honest, unexpectedly funny at times, and deeply human.
“One of the hardest things in uncertainty is deciding whether to act or not act.”
🎧 Listen to the full conversation on our Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/toiletequity/p/leading-through-the-messy-middle