The Purposeful Strategist, a podcast from Menkus & Associates in partnership with Norman Broadbent, shares conversations with CEOs on how they translate organisational purpose into bold strategy, real impact, and lasting results.
In this episode of The Purposeful Strategist, Marina Stenos, Managing Partner of FINN Partners’ Global Education Practice, explores how education leaders can navigate reform, scrutiny, and complexity while staying anchored in purpose. With a career spanning K–12, higher education, public affairs, and STEM, Marina works at the intersection of education, communications, and policy—supporting institutions, foundations, and philanthropies as they manage change and shape impact.
Marina shares what it takes to deliver lasting transformation: protecting the integrity of decision-making processes, creating the conditions for experts to do their best work, and maintaining clarity and discipline in the stories organisations tell. In a sector where public trust is essential, she explains why communication is not peripheral—but central—to progress.
The conversation also explores education as a system built on trust and representation. Marina reflects on how storytelling influences who sees themselves as learners and leaders, why expanding access across pathways and geographies is critical to unlocking human potential, and how communicators can act as stewards of purpose in an age shaped by misinformation and AI.
Listen to the full episode here: https://www.menkus.com/podcast/2026/02/12/marina-stenos