Dear Nonprofit Colleagues,
We all have so much to learn. I am humbled again and again as I continue to learn very important things that improve my practice of nonprofit leadership—things I wish I had known decades ago. It’s not easy to discover that you have been making mistakes all this time, especially when you may have harmed others through your ignorance. Fortunately, I have also learned as I have grown older that we often have more agency than we think we do to change what is wrong and make it better.
The first step for me has been to surround myself with people—on our staff and board teams and in my professional network—who will challenge me and question how we are doing our work. The second step is to hold things less tightly and try not to be driven by fear and a scarcity mindset. This is leading to profound changes that are making our organization better and more effective. It can also be quite scary.
I suppose this ongoing learning is at the heart of living a purposeful life. We all need to examine our beliefs and be open to changing them. Hopefully, this collective learning helps humanity to evolve and “bend the arc toward justice” over time. This goal of becoming more equitable and growing beyond the standard nonprofit model is very much on our minds as we work on our new strategic plan. I look forward to this journey, which is a shared journey with all of you.
Yours in solidarity,
Laura Pierce, Executive Director