In the complex landscape of global humanitarian work, where missions of hope intersect with realities of suffering, few leaders have mastered the delicate art of empowering executives to communicate with both vulnerability and strength. Kristin Ebanks stands as a testament to what emerges when natural talent converges with purposeful calling and unwavering faith.
Her nearly two-decade journey with World Vision , one of the world’s largest Christian humanitarian organizations operating in over 100 countries, represents more than career progression. It embodies the evolution of a communications professional who discovered that her greatest impact would come not just from crafting messages, but from transforming the messengers themselves.
“Reflecting on my journey, I can see how prior to coming to World Vision, my life was in preparation for this work,” Kristin shares, acknowledging the divine orchestration that led her through psychology and English literature studies, a graduate degree in international service, and global experiences across three continents. Each step cultivated what would become her signature approach: deep curiosity and compassion for humankind, from local communities to global movements.
The culmination of this preparation came through her progression from writer to Director of Leader Communications, where she supported World Vision International President and CEO Andrew Morley and members of his executive team, including the Chief Field Operations Officer and the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. This role would challenge her to redefine what executive communication could accomplish in the humanitarian sector. “World Vision was the perfect vehicle for me to live out my life’s desire to make the world a better place for as many people as I could,” she reflects.
THE LEAP OF FAITH: EMBRACING SPECTACULAR POSSIBILITY
When the opportunity arose to become Director of Leader Communications, Kristin faced a moment that would define her career trajectory. The role represented both her greatest hesitation and highest aspiration: working directly with the organization’s top decision-makers to amplify their impact through authentic communication.
“I recall telling people early on that I will either fail spectacularly or succeed spectacularly,” Kristin remembers. “I would either be way out of depth or I would find a way to climb the mountain.” This binary thinking reflected the stakes she understood were at play when working with executives whose decisions affected millions of lives worldwide.
Her decision to accept the challenge came from recognizing the multiplicative effect of her influence. “I knew that I had the opportunity of a lifetime to influence World Vision to a great degree by working closely with the ultimate decision-makers,” she explains. When a colleague told her, “Kristin, this job is tailor-made for you,” she chose to bet on herself and embrace the mountain climb ahead.
The pioneering approach she brought to this role was characterized by fearlessness, calculated risk-taking, and fierce determination to create meaningful change. This wasn’t merely about improving communication techniques; it was about transforming how leaders showed up for their people and their mission.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN ACTION: LEADING WITHOUT MANDATE
Kristin’s leadership philosophy evolved through years of needing to influence without authority, a dynamic that shaped her into what she describes as a servant leader with an inspirational visionary approach. “The kind of leader that I am today is based on many years of observations and experiences in the workforce, in all types of relationships,” she notes.
Her methodology centers on being people-first, finding joy in equipping others for success without concern for personal recognition. This servant leadership approach proved essential when working with executives who required trust-based relationships rather than hierarchical directives. “Even in my role as Director, I never relied on my title to achieve a certain outcome,” she emphasizes.
The complexity of influencing executives required what Kristin calls being “patiently determined.” She learned to work with allies, play the long game, and sometimes step aside when she wasn’t the right messenger for a particular situation. “I do firmly believe that leaders should have the ultimate say in decision-making, even if it’s about communications-related matters,” she explains. “My goal is to set them up for success, encourage them, and walk with them in the journey.”
This approach transformed traditional executive communications from top-down messaging to collaborative relationship-building that honored both expertise and humanity.
BREAKING THE SHADOW: MAKING LEADERS VISIBLE AND HUMAN
Under Kristin’s leadership, World Vision’s executives underwent a dramatic transformation from what she calls “leading in the shadows” to visible, relatable figures who used their personal stories to attract attention to the organization. The change was measurable: the President and CEO reached more than one million people with his LinkedIn posts last year, and many of the executives’ stories went viral. Staff began looking to these leaders for inspiration and their cue to show up with more presence.
“I helped our leaders move from a place of being mostly in the shadows to being bravely bold in using themselves as a vessel for the public to get to know World Vision more,” Kristin explains. This involved coaching leaders to share compelling personal stories, provocative thought leadership pieces, photos from field visits, and selfie-style videos that transformed their presence on social media and at high-level events like the UN General Assembly and World Bank Annual Meetings.
The internal transformation was equally significant. Kristin worked with leaders to close connection gaps with staff through increased visibility, accessibility, and engagement. Coffee chats between leaders and individual staff members, monthly pulse surveys, and a transparent action-tracking dashboard helped build a “two-way feedback culture” that prioritized staff well-being alongside organizational objectives.
“The leaders became relatable and interesting to the public, to such a degree that I would continually get messages from people saying they loved what I was doing with them,” she recalls. Staff shared that this new leader approach became an assumed best practice, demonstrating how authentic leadership communication creates ripple effects throughout an organization.
THE ART OF SACRED STORYTELLING
Kristin’s approach to storytelling transcends traditional corporate communication by addressing what she identifies as one of the humanitarian sector’s greatest challenges: leaders and staff who resist making stories about themselves. “This is problematic when storytelling is a key part of personal branding.I It is what enables staff to be brand ambassadors to complement the company’s brand position,” she notes.
Her methodology involves heart-centered conversations that explore leaders’ life experiences, leadership approaches, career journeys, and personal interests. Often, leaders don’t recognize the value of their experiences, which is why Kristin advocates for partnership in storytelling. “I ask them hard questions that often get at the root of an issue and then I help them to express it in different forms,” she explains.
This approach proved especially powerful when encouraging staff to share stories about diversity, stigma, discrimination, and racism. “These are sacred conversations often filled with a lot of emotion, and sometimes they lead to people crying—myself included—and them saying that they finally feel ‘seen,’” Kristin reflects. “I count this as one of my greatest blessings that I get to journey with people to discover and reveal who they are to the world.”
In the humanitarian context, where storytelling often involves heartbreak, Kristin ensures stories are told with hope and faith, aligning with World Vision’s goal of helping children live out their God-given potential.
THE HEART-MIND BALANCE: EMOTIONAL TRUTH OVER DATA
When balancing emotional storytelling with factual transparency, Kristin operates from a clear philosophy: “I generally find storytelling about people, feelings, and experiences to be far more effective than factual storytelling full of numbers.” Her approach recognizes that while people have enough information to make intellectual decisions, their hearts need more convincing.
“Emotional storytelling touches people’s hearts and makes stories memorable long after they are told. It humanizes issues, compelling people to have empathy and take action,” she explains. This doesn’t mean abandoning facts, but rather using them strategically to demonstrate breadth and depth while leading with emotional connection.
Her decision framework involves asking, “Are we trying to move hearts or minds?” This clarity helps determine whether to lead with human experience or factual data, though she consistently favors the heart-centered approach for creating lasting impact.
AUTHENTICITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
As executive communication increasingly moves into digital spaces, Kristin offers two critical pieces of advice for maintaining authenticity. First, she warns against using AI to write personal stories, having observed its detrimental effect on output quality. “A personal brand can start to take an ugly turn if people sense that it’s not really your thoughts, feelings, or experiences that you’re sharing,” she cautions.
Instead, she recommends working with a partner to unearth and communicate stories in the leader’s authentic voice with clear points of view they can defend and embody. Second, she advocates mastering “selfie-style storytelling on video,” recognizing video as an increasingly vital tool for both internal and external communication.
“It’s also a very effective way to represent yourself because people can assess some of your personality, competence, and confidence when they watch you on video,” she notes. This approach makes communication both agile and efficient, turning every moment into a potential storytelling opportunity.
THE FOUNDATION OF TRUST: INTEGRITY IN ACTION
Trust building, according to Kristin, requires the alignment of words, actions, and beliefs over time. “Trust is developed in leaders when they demonstrate integrity, which is an alignment of words, actions, and beliefs,” she explains. “This truly takes time, sometimes years. Staff need to see how their leader responds in different situations to qualify if they have integrity.”
Beyond integrity, leaders must demonstrate that they are “FOR” their people, showing interest and respect for both professional contributions and personal humanity. “We are whole people, not defined by what we do for a living,” Kristin reminds us.
The trust-building process requires visible communication at every opportunity, transparency and honesty about actions taken or not taken, and crystal-clear values. “When one or more of these aspects are missing, trust will slip through hands like grains of sand,” she warns.
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE: THREE PILLARS OF EXECUTIVE POSITIONING
Looking toward 2025 and beyond, Kristin identifies three essential pillars for executive positioning that must be mastered: video storytelling, personal branding, and thought leadership. “They each work to support the other and are also unique in and of themselves,” she explains. “Without one of these, such as thought leadership, a CEO risks becoming just a figurehead for the organization where there are lots of smiles and field trips but no real capacity to influence public discourse.”
She also emphasizes the importance of AI competence alongside these pillars, recognizing that leaders need technical familiarity with tools that enable rapid content creation and distribution.She balances this need for competence of emerging technologies with her belief that certain leadership characteristics will endure regardless of such changes, such as: “responding to change, influencing others, being brave, self-belief, bringing a vision to life, navigating challenges, and being vulnerable.”
THE CALL FOR COURAGE: Truth-Telling in Challenging Times
As the humanitarian sector faces concerning trends including widening inequality, reduced funding, and growing apathy toward global suffering, Kristin calls for communications professionals to become “all-stars” who advocate bravely for those who deserve to be seen, heard, and valued.
“Communicators will now have a growing mandate to be more compelling in their storytelling to attract attention and investment from others,” she explains. “This will require bravery, collaboration, creativity, and grit.” She is particularly concerned with the suppression of stories about global suffering for geopolitical reasons, emphasizing the need for truth-tellers from the local to the global.
For aspiring communication leaders, her advice is clear: become excellent storytellers, master available tools and platforms, and develop the capacity to speak truth in love. “We need those who push back by asking questions, give contrarian opinions, and try risky tactics,” she states. “In essence: we need truth-tellers to reflect what is happening in the world as others try to stamp it out.”
FAITH AS THE FOUNDATION: Divine Inspiration in Daily Practice
Throughout her career, Kristin’s faith has served as both motivation and method. “There is no product, initiative, or result that has been more fulfilling to me than when leaders have said I helped them to become a better leader and transformed their way of communicating,” she reflects.
Her inspiration comes from her personal faith in God and draws from World Vision’s mission to follow Jesus Christ by working with the poor and oppressed, but also from nature and her three children. “The outdoors shows me a world that can be hurt or healed, how it can be broken or thrive in harmony,” she shares. Her children challenge her with their questions and inspire her with their actions, which sometimes includes picking up trash at venues and providing food and money to homeless individuals.
“I cannot take credit for my work, because so much of what I did was driven by my faith,” she acknowledges. “Loving people was an expression of the love I feel from God. Speaking up on behalf of the vulnerable was because I know God stands for justice.”
A MESSAGE FOR GLOBAL LEADERS: LEGACY BEYOND POWER
Kristin’s message to global leaders reflects her core belief that the world’s dependence on money and power requires an alternative model of leadership. “We must build up leaders with courage, moral integrity, compassion, and inspiration to present a new alternative to people,” she urges.
“If you are a leader, you should be asking yourself today, ‘what legacy do I want to leave?’” she challenges. “Don’t leave this up to chance and wait for others to decide for you. You have the opportunity and ability today to take steps to move in the direction you want to go.”
Her hope is that leaders will pursue what she calls “heavenly, not earthly, rewards,” shining light from the inside out through their words, actions, and moral values. This vision represents not just a career philosophy, but a life calling that has shaped two decades of transformative work in humanitarian communications.
THE ENDURING IMPACT: TRANSFORMATION THAT OUTLIVES TENURE
As Kristin reflects on her career, the most fulfilling moments center not on campaigns or initiatives, but on transformation that extends beyond her presence. “Staff have said that I left a legacy of impact and positive change that was modern, refreshing, and people-focused,” she shares. “They found inspiration in me, and I am deeply grateful for that.”
This legacy represents the ultimate measure of effective executive communications: not just improved messaging or increased visibility, but fundamental changes in how leaders understand their role in serving others. By teaching leaders to communicate with both heart and strength, to embrace vulnerability while maintaining authority, and to use their stories as vessels for organizational impact, Kristin has created a model that transcends individual careers and organizations.
Her work demonstrates that authentic executive communication isn’t about perfecting techniques or mastering technologies, though both have their place. It’s about understanding that leadership communication is ultimately about human connection, that vulnerability can coexist with strength, and that the most powerful messages emerge when leaders allow their humanity to serve their mission.
In a world where humanitarian needs continue to grow while resources and attention diminish, leaders who can communicate with both heart and strength become essential bridges between global challenges and local solutions. Kristin Ebanks has spent her career building those bridges, one authentic conversation at a time.
