We are excited to share our new podcast: Association Evidence Project.
This project will focus on elevating research and researchers that help nonprofit and association leaders lead with clarity, confidence, and insight. At a time when associations are navigating complexity, rising expectations for impact, and rapid change, evidence-informed leadership matters deeply.
Research strengthens how we ask questions, how we decide, and how we steward our missions with intention.
Podcasts
Podcast
Curiosity, Clarity, and Courage with Lowell Aplebaum
August 5, 2025
If you’re a leader navigating change, shifting expectations, or questions about your organization’s identity and future, this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast is for you. It features Lowell Aplebaum, CEO of Vista Cova. Lowell works with association leaders and boards on visioning, governance, and strategy—and he brings a thoughtful, deeply human approach to the challenges facing organizations today.
Podcast
Navigating CEO-Board Dynamics
April 18, 2024
In this episode, we talk to Lowell Aplebaum, EdD, FASAE, CAE, CPF, CEO of Vista Cova. He joins our hosts Steven Stout, FASAE, CAE, and Katy Markert to unravel the intricacies of the CEO-board relationship. Together, they explore the keys to fostering a successful CEO-board dynamic, strategies for addressing challenges, and innovative approaches to strengthening collaboration. Plus, discover the importance of engagement with organizations like TSAE.
Podcast
How Governance Powers an Organization
December 1, 2023
In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Lowell Aplebaum, CEO of Vista Cova. Lowell introduces Vista Cova, talks about his journey to becoming founder and CEO, and then discusses why governance is so critical to the success of an organization.
Podcast
Strategic Planning in the Age of Disruption
May 24, 2023
Vista Cova CEO Lowell Aplebaum unpacks why the classic “3-year strategic plan” is fading—and what should replace it: a strategic framework that stays steady as a true north while tactics shift.
Podcast
Board Governance and Strategy
January 6, 2022
Vista Cova CEO Lowell Aplebaum joins Six Degrees of Associations to reframe what it really means to “build a board.”
Podcast
Leadership in the Digital Age
May 15, 2020
Lowell Aplebaum, CEO & Strategy Catalyst at Vista Cova, joins Dave for a look at leadership in the digital age.
Podcast
Associations Creating Community
January 23, 2020
In this podcast Lowell says it is essential for association members to feel like they belong and have the space to talk with one another in micro-communities. Many association leaders […]
Association Charrette is a powerful event attended by the smartest thought leaders and changemakers in the association business. Attending has helped me grow as a leader and provided me a safe space to collaborate with brilliant peers to explore big, difficult issues affecting me directly and the association industry as a whole.
— Tim Hopkins, CAE, Senior Consultant, McKinley Advisors
