Trista Harris on Re-Imagining the Nonprofit Sector

RT: How did you make your way into the nonprofit sector?

TH: I have known since I was 8 or 9 that I wanted to work for community change. My mom used to make costumes for a theater in a local community center so I got to see the great work that was happening there firsthand. I have been working for nonprofit organizations since I was 15. Since that first job I have worked for local, statewide, national, and international nonprofit organizations doing a variety of positions that all were about improving the capacity of the nonprofit sector to do better work in and for the community.

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

TH: I am a Program Officer at the Saint Paul Foundation, which is the largest community foundation in Minnesota. I provide leadership on the foundation’s initiatives related to civic engagement and philanthropy. I am also responsible for a broad-ranging grantmaking portfolio which reflects the foundation’s interest in comprehensive solutions to community issues and manage scholarship funds for the foundation. This position has allowed me to use all of the skills that I learned in my previous positions in the sector.

I am blessed to have a job where I get to spend time with some of the brightest minds in the social sector and hear about how they are working to change the world.

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

TH: I received my Master’s in Public Policy degree from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute, with a focus on philanthropy and nonprofit effectiveness, and my Bachelor’s degree in sociology from Howard University.

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

TH: When I first started my career I thought that I would like to run a community center that was really a community gathering place where people could get their needs met and become civically engaged in their communities. I am now much more interested in how I can leverage my skills and expertise to help other community leaders do that same work on a larger scale.

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?

TH: I have been very impressed with how Gen X and Y are re-imagining the nonprofit sector. I think that organizations like Kiva and Donors Choose will be just the beginning of a new type of nonprofit that has low overhead and scaleable results. I think Gen X and Y are stepping up in a major way but it isn’t always recognized because it doesn’t look the same as the way that Baby Boomers stepped up in the past.

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

TH: I want to see a complete shift in how results are measured at nonprofits and in foundations. I think results need to be about positive impact in the community, not by the number of hours that an employee spends at a desk. Flexible work schedules should only be a first step, I hope that results-only work environments are the future of nonprofit work.