3 Years, 16 Interviews with Young Nonprofit Leaders

May 24, 2010 | Interviews, Now Generation Leadership

In case you missed it, I’m celebrating the three-year anniversary of my blog and giving away $100 for your ideas about what I should write about going forward. Continuing the spirit of celebration, I wanted to highlight all of the young nonprofit leaders I’ve written about since 2007. Some maiden names and job titles have changed, but I’m posting the original interviews (and photos!) here in all their glory. How do their views resonate with you?

Meet Rebecca Anderson: Representing the Future of African American Nonprofit Leadership (September 2007)

“After working in the for-profit sector for three years, I was starting to feel like my work did not have a purpose. I was spending very long hours assisting with banking mergers and software application deployment but that was not enough to fulfill me, I wanted to work at an organization that gave back to more than themselves. The best way I knew to do that was enter into the nonprofit sector.”

Meet Jamon Alexander: An Emerging Leader of Color Poised to Carry the Torch (October 2007)

“It is exciting that the nonprofit sector is billion-dollar field, and that more young people are seeing it as a rewarding career option, but the term “nonprofit” has not become mainstream. I feel that students are aware of the work of YMCA or Big Brothers/Big Sisters, but they do not know it falls under the auspice of the nonprofit world. Nonprofits should reach out to higher education students, high school students, etc. and build relationships. Nonprofit professionals should speak in classrooms and host panel discussions. Nonprofits should utilize Facebook & Myspace, YouTube and other modern forms of communication. It is incumbent upon our generation to bridge these gaps; and as young leaders poised to carry the torch, we are more than up for the task.”

Meet Janean Brown: A Young Leader of Color With a Clear Vision for the Future (October 2007)

“I would like to see communities of color take personal responsibility for the future of our communities and leadership. Leaders from generations before mine have picked themselves up by their bootstraps and gained knowledge, power, and success over the years. I would like to see a serious effort to mentor young people and share knowledge and experiences. I would like to see communities of color teaching younger generations how to save, earn, invest, and give back. It is a cyclical process that we can teach each other in an effort to ensure the wealth of our communities. Based on the past, it is obvious that our success is at the mercy of the majority. Thus as people of color, I would like to see us band together to create leaders who are undeniably dynamic.”

An Interview With Eric Giles: Emerging Leaders Need to Push Out of the Box (April 2008)

“In my opinion, the nonprofit sector operates within a very hierarchical structure. We see the ED/CEO/President as the leader of the organization, guided by a board of other leaders in the sector. One reason we are perceiving a “leadership gap” is that we equate leadership with the ED/CEO/President. I would like the sector to better recognize the leadership roles within other positions within organizations and tap into that latent strength. A flattening of the hierarchical triangle. I think it behooves the non-ED segment of the nonprofit sector to better express their skills and knowledge. Better yet, we need to learn how to demonstrate our ideas and skills in a way that allows those in charge to accept them without feeling threatened by them. In short, work on your negotiation and communications skills, then put them to the test.”

Elisa Ortiz to the Nonprofit Sector: “Change or Die” (April 2008)

“Of course, many younger leaders are limited in their ability to actually get those traditional leadership positions by a stale hierarchical structure or by current leaders who are reluctant to let go of any control. However, I think we younger leaders have to take some responsibility for not getting this recognition either. Many of us (myself included) have just taken it. We haven’t asked for or demanded more responsibility or pay and maybe more importantly, haven’t moved on from the places that restrict us. I really think the only way the sector is going to change is when ALL of us, Gen X and Y and Baby Boomers included, decide to stop taking it. Once we start either leaving organizations that don’t respect us and going to those that do en masse or changing our organizations to encourage leadership, the restrictive ones will be forced to either change themselves or die.”

An Interview With Keven Cotton: Nonprofits Need to Recruit More People of Color (April 2008)

“I made my way into the nonprofit sector through the AmeriCorps program. As a junior in college, I volunteered at a DC elementary school and was amazed at what I saw. In order to arrive at the school, I had to navigate drug dealers and individuals drinking outside of the school. I could not believe the environment that children had to overcome in order to attend school. I was partnered with a second grader who was reading on a late kindergarten/first grade level . . . It was this student that opened my eyes to inequalities that many families, especially families of color, face on a daily basis . . . I have worked in the nonprofit sector since 2002 and I continue to be amazed that while the majority of people being served by nonprofits are people of color, the majority of nonprofits are staffed and led by white women. I would like to see nonprofits increase their recruitment of and career advancement for, minority employees.”

Mazi Mutafa on Being a Young Executive Director (April 2008)

“I think one of the greatest gifts and challenges of being an ED is being able to bring my whole self to the work place. I don’t feel that my ideas need to be restricted by anything but the budget, and even that is only a temporary restraint. I am able to be as creative as I actually am and find people who I agree enough with that we can work together to make my ideas better and produce programs and outcomes that people usually complain about not existing, but don’t know how to build the systems necessary to achieve the desired outcomes.”

Interview With Melissa Johnson: You Don’t Need a Title to Lead (May 2008)

“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.” Editor’s note: In this interview, Melissa swore she would never become an Executive Director, however she is now the ED of the Neighborhood Funders Group!

Trista Harris on Re-Imagining the Nonprofit Sector (May 2008)

“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 . . . 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.”

We Are the Possible: Meet Allison Jones (April 2009)

“My involvement in social change is not accidental and initially was not motivated by hope and positivity. I was angry. I was angry with a lot of what I saw and a lot of what I was learning in college–pervasive inequality, disinterest, and intellectual dishonesty that polarized discussions about what the problems are and how to solve them . . . The issue I am most passionate about is education. Education was my saving grace and has been for many low income people of color. So I channeled my energy into doing volunteer work and sought full time work in the education field. ”

We Are the Possible: Meet Kathrin Ivanovic (April 2009)

“I know that it sounds cliché, but I hope that our generation can more forcefully demand transparency and accountability from each other and from our elected officials. Accountability starts at home, with each and every one of us. We live in a world that is pervasively global – connected, due to the power and might of technological innovation. More importantly, we are connected through our humanity and thereby universally accountable to and for each other. There are so many ways each and every one of us can step up and be the change we want to see in the world. It is my hope that we begin to give each other the courage and support to do so.”

We Are the Possible: Meet Loryn C. Wilson (April 2009)

“I would like to see my generation expand on the older generations’ successes. We have so much technology and so much more access to opportunities, and if we can use our resources to better our homes, our work places and our communities instead of just increasing our own material wealth, we can truly be the people who our ancestors prayed and hoped for.”

We Are the Possible: Meet Lindsey McDougle (April 2009)

“I started blogging about 18 months ago. A colleague of mine, Heather Carpenter (who was already an avid blogger) insisted that I share my “expertise” with others. At that time, however, I truly believed that I didn’t have much “expertise” to share. I also didn’t know who would want to read about the things that I was interested in: leadership, nonprofits, and social change. But Heather really convinced me of the value in blogging… and so I began. Since that time I have built a reputation as an expert in my field. Prior to blogging I was a bit hesitant to stake my claim as an “expert,” but, indeed, I am! I know what I know, and I know my field . . . Career wise, I think that Heather’s encouragement to begin blogging was probably one of the smartest things that I could have ever done.”

We Are the Possible: Meet Samuel Isaac Richard (April 2009)

“For me, it’s hard to separate my passion for social justice and a stronger sector from my love for [my wife]. I know that sounds cheesy, but I say it because I don’t believe that the priorities have to be “balanced.” Maybe some see romantic relationships and marriage as barriers to success in a career, but my relationship with Kim has done nothing but aided and abetted my addiction to social change – and that won’t change anytime soon. She is my biggest fan and extremely supportive, but questions my crazy theories and challenges my assumptions. She is honest about my faults, but only because she believes that I can be better. And I’d like to think that I offer the same support and challenge for her. We work really well together, mainly because we understand that we’re in this together – whatever “this” happens to be at the moment.”

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Meet Ian Bautista, President of UNCA (September 2009)

“[People of color] have to look for mentors and examples of how to succeed a little harder. Since there are fewer prospects for 1-to-1 mentors in our sector, we have to find mentors and role models from everywhere. While I greatly admire many Latino and Latina nonprofit executives, I haven’t had the opportunity to mentor under many of them. I have found great inspiration and nurturing mentors in the form of African-American men, Latinas in higher education, and many white leaders from various industries. Some of these leaders have given me valuable opportunities to lead and have taught me life and professional lessons that have served me well. I have made it a point to offer myself as a mentor – both formally and informally – to up-and-coming Latino and Latina nonprofit professionals as I meet them. ”

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Meet Danielle Reyes, Program Officer at the Eugene & Agnes Meyer Foundation (October 2009)

“There are so many ways to be a part of positive change, all you have to do is explore the options and incorporate what suits you into your life. For some people it might be through their career path, for others its writing a check, a 5k, volunteering once or committing weekly, serving on a board, organizing your friends and community to support a cause, for others it is all of those things, a lifestyle. I tell people that I mentor that they need explore what they are interested in first and to choose a career in something they are passionate about. If you don’t know what that is yet, keep exploring, you’ll learn a lot and do a lot of good along the way. I am still exploring.”

Of course, I’ve also done a ton of radio shows featuring young nonprofit leaders that you might want to check out, including: