Mission-Driven Leadership in Higher Education: How Doane University Grows Through Relationships

John Frost, VP of Enrollment Management at Doane University, shares how one conversation — and one person who believed in a student before she believed in herself — sparked a ripple effect that changed three generations and an entire workplace.In this conversation, you'll learn: ✅ How to shift your team from "order takers" to "dream makers" — and why this changes everything about community engagement ✅ The enrollment and outreach framework Doane uses to meet people where they are through relationship-first communication ✅ Why leading with purpose — not metrics — is the most powerful retention and growth strategy for any mission-driven organization This episode is for mission-driven leaders who want to reconnect with why they do this work and build the kind of community trust that multiplies impact long after the first conversation.👤 ABOUT JOHN FROST: John Frost is the Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Doane University, a 153-year-old liberal arts institution in Crete, Nebraska. A former TV news journalist, John made a deliberate pivot into higher education to move from telling people's stories to influencing them. Under his leadership, Doane has grown its student body toward the 1,000-student mark through a relationship-first enrollment model that prioritizes human connection over transactional recruiting. 🔗 Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-frost-m-s-74b57042/ 🔗 Doane University: https://www.doane.edu 🎙️ ABOUT HART & HUSTLE: Hart & Hustle brings you weekly conversations with mission-driven leaders solving real problems in healthcare, education, and community services. Every week, host Efrain Lozada sits down with nonprofit executives, operations directors, and innovators to uncover practical strategies you can implement in your organization.Subscribe for weekly insights on nonprofit leadership, operations, and scaling mission impact. 🔗 CONNECT WITH US: FRANSiS™ Website: https://fransis.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fromfransis #MissionDrivenLeadership #NonprofitLeadership #HigherEducation