From Books To Bytes: Our 2023 Content Favorites

Created By: Orr Group
December 19, 2023

Core to our growth as individuals, teammates, and as a firm, is the importance of education and learning. We’re privileged to learn from our partners and through our work each and every day. Beyond this, we also lean on insights shared by leaders and experts across the globe to broaden our perspectives.

As we reflect on what we’ve learned this year, we’ve expanded beyond the written word to showcase the diversity of content that has shaped our leaders’ approach to and understanding of the world around us. We invite you to explore our ‘favorites’ of 2023 from these talented teammates below!

For the bookworm…

Steve Orr, Co-Founder and Managing Partner’s picks:

• Alaska by James A. Michener
• Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
• Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
• The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
• The Whistler by John Grisham

CJ Orr, Partner & President’s picks:

• Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
• Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby
• The 5am Club by Robin S. Sharma

Craig Shelley, CFRE, Partner & Chief Growth Officer’s picks:

• A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
• Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono
• The Storm Is Here: An American Crucible by Luke Mogelson

Andrea Bastiani Archibald, PhD, Managing Director’s picks:

• Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Great Things by Adam M. Grant
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Sarah Stremlau, Chief Strategy & Operating Officer’s picks:

• Bringing Up The Boss: Practical Lessons for New Managers by Rachel Pacheco

Regina Cialone, CFRE, Vice President’s picks:

• No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
• Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke
• The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos by Jaime Green
• When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them by Julia Boorstin

Amanda Nelson, Vice President’s picks:

• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
• Tokyo Ueno Station by Yū Miri

Adam Glick, Senior Director’s picks:

• Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping The Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb
• From Generosity to Justice: A New Gospel of Wealth by Darren Walker
• Germany 1923: Hyperinflation, Hitler’s Putsch, and Democracy in Crisis by Volker Ullrich
• Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns
• The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven Thrasher
• World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music by Jeff Tweedy

Piper Hardin, CFRE, Senior Director’s picks:

• 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Theodore Roosevelt: Rough Rider. President. American Icon. by Sean Andrews
• How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
• The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family’s Quest to Bring Him Home by Sally Mott Freeman

Jessica Shatzel, Senior Director & Head of Talent Management’s picks:

• Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
• The Yellow House by Sarah Broom

Adam Arango, Director & Head of Donor Engagement’s picks:

• The Chief Development Officer: Beyond Fundraising by Ronald Schiller
• Vital Voices: The Power of Women Leading Change Around the World by Alyse Nelson

Brandon Emerson, Director & Co-Head of Advisory Services’ picks:

• All Systems Red by Martha Wells
• Designing Your Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness at Work by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

Shea Hermann, Senior Associate Director & Head of Learning, DEI and Belonging’s picks:

• Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and The Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy
• Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter by John Hendrickson
• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makai
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

>>> Interested in either of these reads? Consider supporting one of your local bookstores!

For the internet surfer…

Amanda Nelson, Vice President’s picks:

• Forbes’ The $93 Trillion Wealth Transfer: How Phil Knight, Charles Koch, And Other Aging Billionaires Are Making Sure Their Money Doesn’t Go To Uncle Sam by Matt Durot
• The New York Times’ Profile on Dan Doctoroff: His Mind Helped Rebuild New York. His Body Is Failing Him. by Christopher Maag

Brandon Emerson, Director & Co-Head of Advisory Services’ picks:

• Standford Social Innovation Review’s From Doing Good to Being Good: The Movement for Nonprofit Social Responsibility by Shawn Pope and Patricia Bromley
• Standford Social Innovation Review’s Sponsored Supplement: Philanthropy and Power

For the avid listener…

CJ Orr, Partner & President’s picks:

• The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions by The Breakdown Network

Andrea Bastiani Archibald, PhD, Managing Director’s picks:

• Harvard Business Review’s Women at Work with Amy Bernstein and Amy Gallo
• Hidden Brain Radio’s Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam

Regina Cialone, CFRE, Vice President’s picks:

• Fundraising is Funny with Lynne Wester and T. Clay Buck
• The Science of Making & Breaking Habits  with Dr. Andrew Huberman

Amanda Nelson, Vice President’s picks:

• WNYC’s Soundcheck with John Schaefer

Adam Arango, Director & Head of Donor Engagement’s picks:

• Bloomberg’s Odd Lots with Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway

Ryan Grosso, Senior Director & Head of Capacity Building’s picks:

• How I Built This with Guy Raz by Wondery

Shea Hermann, Senior Associate Director & Head of Learning, DEI and Belonging’s picks:

• Freakonomics Radio Book Club, Episode 463: How to Get Anyone to Do Anything by Stephen J. Dubner
• Hidden Brain Episode: How to Change the World with Shankar Vedantam
• Invisibilia: How to Become Batman with Yowei Shaw and Kia Miakka Natisse

For the visual learner…

Steve Orr, Co-Founder and Managing Partner’s picks:

• Apple TV+’s The Morning Show

Andrea Bastiani Archibald, PhD, Managing Director’s picks:

• Hulu’s The Bear

Adam Arango, Director & Head of Donor Engagement’s picks:

• TED Talk: The Power of Vulnerability with Brené Brown

As we enter a new year, we wish our teammates, partners, and community of changemakers continued learning and growth.

Have any recommendations that have shaped your own learning and growth in 2023? We’d love to hear them!