Interview With Melissa Johnson: You Don’t Need a Title to Lead

MJ: I worked for a nonprofit during my first year of graduate school and saw first hand the government resources intended to help working moms go from welfare to work. The funds the organization received from foundations served as the biggest source of flexible monies that were critical in filling the gaps of that government funding. During my last year of graduate school, I was fortunate to assist in grantmaking at the largest community foundation in North Carolina (Foundation for the Carolinas in Charlotte). Working with over 10 affiliates, and mostly serving rural counties, was an eye-opening experience. Witnessing the roles of power and decision-making in various communities where so many needs went unmet and seeing the lack of capacity of many nonprofits motivated me to action. I vowed to both help small nonprofits become healthy and build infrastructure to continue their work, and to eventually seek out a role of grantmaker. Thus, by serving as a grant recipient and grant maker, my passion for the sector and potential impact it could make grew deeply. I found a purpose that combined my desire to help others who could not help themselves and to help alleviate adverse social and economic conditions that bound them.

RT: What is your current position and day-to-day work?

MJ: I am currently the Field Director for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. In this role, I am responsible for building the membership base of our organization and planning and executing national campaigns. I work on a daily basis with grassroots community nonprofits doing the work on the ground, foundations who strive to be more responsive to their needs, and passionate individuals who want to see philanthropy be more accessible and accountable to the public. It is a balancing act at times, but one in which I continue to build relationships with both sides of the fence, so to speak.

RT: What is your educational background and area of expertise?

MJ: I have a bachelor’s degree in English and Sociology from Wake Forest University and a Master’s Degree of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

RT: Do you want to be an Executive Director when you grow up? Why or why not?

MJ: My answer to this question has actually changed over the last few years. A few years back, I accepted a position at a national nonprofit organization. The underlying assumption was that I would become the next Executive Director within that first year. For many reasons, that opportunity did not come to pass, and for good reason. I worked at a national project shortly thereafter, then done some consulting in the philanthropic field, and am now in this new role at NCRP. So, what would have been an emphatic yes almost three years ago is now a resounding NO. With all of the conversations occurring around nonprofit leadership, and having been engaged with a statewide young leaders network of nonprofit professionals in North Carolina (NCYT) and a national network of young professionals in philanthropy (EPIP), I have been fortunate to be in some of these national conversations. Without question, I consider myself a leader, but I have learned that leadership is both developed and utilized in many key ways. In our society and as the nonprofit sector continues to mimic some ideals of the corporate world, it is viewed that the role of ED is the end all be all. For me, as opposed to a “title” for title’s sake, being an agent of change and in a position to leverage power and privilege for the public good is my first priority. This can absolutely be done and is done in our sector every day by individuals in the non-ED role. Change often bubbles up from the folks positioned in the middle and is then carried out and voiced by those at the top.

RT: Do you think Generations X and Y are stepping up to lead in the nonprofit sector, or are we just waiting for the world to change? How could we get more involved?

MJ: Absolutely! I think that my generation and the one after me is extremely capable and willing to lead in the nonprofit sector. I think leadership needs to be reframed in our sector. I am a huge proponent of shared leadership as opposed to a traditional sense of one charismatic leader and a thousand followers. As our society becomes more diverse, more complex, and stratified in terms of class, there are many opportunities for involvement and all equally important. I would encourage Generations X and Y to continue to volunteer, learn, and lead in the sector in a way that is connected outside of our own circles. The more folks know about your activism and passion, the more folks you can invite to join you. Get involved in the political process and public policy issues. Think more about the collective change we want to see more than the change we want to see in our individual selves. It may start with one but it almost never ends with just one. We affect so many in our paths each day.

RT: What would you like to see changed in the nonprofit sector? How can we take action to implement that change?

MJ: I would like to see the nonprofit sector define itself and behave in ways that is rooted in the values of the work that we carry out. Why are we in this sector? What is the ultimate goal of our work as a whole? While we have failed and hopefully will not succeed in trying to run our organizations like corporate America, nonprofits exist to serve the public good, to be the connector between government service delivery mandates and the race for the have not’s this creates on the ground. We are the sector that can and should represent those most in need. I think we should all keep this at the forefront as we truck along day-to-day in this imbalanced and unfair race. We should all recognize that we have to work together to deflect this imbalance. And, most importantly, we should remove our personal self-interest from the equation.