Will Going Back to School Help You Get Your Dream Nonprofit Job? It Depends.

December 6, 2011 by · 4 Comments

I was speaking to an undergraduate nonprofit management class at George Mason University recently (thanks again for the invite, Amanda!) and someone asked the inevitable question that young nonprofit professionals inevitably ask.

Will a Master’s degree help me get a good job in the nonprofit field?

The short, frustrating answer: IT DEPENDS.

Sorry! There is no magic bullet for anything career-related these days, especially when it comes to getting your dream nonprofit job. In fact, if you go back to school in the hopes that it will magically make you leadership material, you will probably be sorely disappointed and end up drowning your sorrows in bourbon and coke every time you have to write that monthly check to pay back your student loans. Now I love bourbon, but those sorrows? Those you can do without.

Stop Asking the Wrong Questions

Anyways, “should I go back to school?” is the wrong question to ask in the first place. A better question to ask yourself is what do you really want to do in the nonprofit sector? What job would you be good at? What difference do you want to make? (Here are 15 more really good questions along those lines.)

If you wanna talk numbers, ask yourself whether the investment in paying for grad school will be recouped over the lifetime of your nonprofit career. Is it worth the $500/month price tag (or whatever you will owe) compared to the salary you will end up making for the next few years? In some places, $500 a month is rent. Just sayin.’ Of course, if you can swing grad school for free because you’re a genius or just savvy enough to find a few awesome grants or fellowships, more power to you. Free grad school is the best grad school. (Actually, I wouldn’t know that for sure. I paid for my own grad school. But I’m pretty sure I would be happier about the whole thing had it been free.)

Nonprofits Value Education, But Experience is Worth More

If you ask the average nonprofit hiring manager if, all other things being equal, they would hire the candidate with five years experience in the field or the one with a Master’s degree in sociology, who do you think they would choose? Most organizations are seeking someone who can hit the ground running in their job and it’s typically a no-brainer to choose someone who’s done it before in another organization.

The biggest mistake that a lot of young professionals make is going to grad school for three years and not working during that time. It’s a loss of three years of potential work experience to back up their fancy education when they’re ready to land that dream job. So if you’ve really got your heart set on more schoolin,’ at least keep working while you study. (I have yet to hear a good reason why people shouldn’t work while they’re in school. It’s a great experience in leadership and time management, especially if you have a family. Me? I worked a full-time nonprofit job as well as part-time as a hostess at a chain restaurant while I completed my Master’s degree. Do what you gotta do.)

Find the Loopholes

Okay, so now you know that grad school is not a sexy magic bullet that will automatically get you that dream nonprofit job that pays well and gives you unlimited career advancement. But you still hear those career “experts” saying that going back to school is a good thing to do in a recession. Presumably, it makes you competitive for the jobs that will open up when the downturn is over . . . which may be two thousand and NEVER at this point. The good news for you is that nonprofits are always in need of talented people who can get things done for their organizations, Master’s or not. (Wanna know someone who leads major social change without a fancy degree? Robert Egger. President of DC Central Kitchen and CForward. Check him out. He’s a doer. He DOES.)

So, loopholes. How can you pursue your dream nonprofit job without spending three years and $50,000 to go back to school? There are a lot of ways. In fact, last year I co-wrote a book that outlines 50 ways to accelerate your nonprofit career and only ONE of them is to get a Master’s degree. That leaves 49 loopholes for you to choose from.

Here are a few to get you started:

Now, back to my original question. Will going back to school help you get your dream nonprofit job? Maybe. But it’s better to try alternate strategies before dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that might bring you big debt and little results.

Further Reading: Four Reasons Why You Don’t Need to Go to Grad School

Filed Under: Career Advice, Higher Education ·

A Different Path for Changing the World (or Why I Quit My PhD Program)

April 5, 2011 by · 20 Comments

Back in 2009, I thought I had to get a PhD to make a difference. I wanted to write books and journal articles and conduct research that would totally redefine the way we view leadership. Of course, I quickly learned how incredibly taxing a PhD program would be on my already active life. And with so few opportunities out there for full-time teaching in nonprofit education, it just didn’t seem worth the time or the money. So I quit.

Only now, years later, have I realized that my reasons for pursuing a PhD went way beyond simply wanting to be a tenured professor.

I wanted to be validated. I wanted to be respected. I wanted to be important. And I wanted to finally feel like I had arrived.

In a professional world where being under 30 can seem like a liability, I fancied that being “Dr. Thurman” would open up doors for me that wouldn’t have otherwise opened. I imagined that I would be afforded a bigger voice and a larger platform for my ideas as a result of my advanced education status.

Deep down, there was also a tinge of fear at work. Fear that if I didn’t keep going with my education, that I wouldn’t know enough to be able to lead other people. When the truth is, none of us will ever know everything. There will always be something new to learn (and teach), which is really just supposed to make life and leadership fun for everyone.

What’s most interesting to me now, as I reflect, is what I did after I quit my PhD program.

I started changing the world – on my own terms.

I wrote a book to help people build meaningful and rewarding nonprofit careers. I quit my job and went completely out on my own to work on projects that I believed in. I started coaching people on how to access their own leadership skills. I started a personal development blog that fulfills my personal mission to support women of color. I started speaking more and doing more and risking more and becoming more of the person I was meant to be.

Now, through my work, I have the incredible privilege of being able to touch thousands of people, which is much more fulfilling to me than getting an occasional byline in a peer-reviewed journal that only a few will ever read. Through my Happy Black Woman blog, for instance, my virtual life coaching program has helped over 1,000 women (and men) reset their lives. For me, this is social change at its best – beaming your love and light so far into the world that it reaches the people who need it the most.

Once we accept the responsibility to do what we are called to do now – right now, without waiting until we’ve “arrived” – we will begin to see alternative ways in which we can change the world. We will realize that we do not need any external validation to give us permission to help others. And in the process of living out our own true purpose, we will, in turn, encourage others to do the same.

That’s my path. So far, anyway.

What does your path look like? Have you found it yet?

Filed Under: Higher Education, Leadership ·

The Inevitable Evolution of the Nonprofit Sector

March 29, 2011 by · 5 Comments

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to speak at two great nonprofit conferences, the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network National Conference in Grand Rapids and Benchmark 3.5: Nonprofit Educators Leading, Learning and Creating the Future in San Diego.

The theme of both conferences centered around evolution, innovation and new ideas in the nonprofit field for academics, practitioners and young professionals.

But unlike other conferences I’ve been to in the past, the underlying sentiment I felt from each of these gatherings was not so much about the novelty of doing things differently, but the necessity of change in the sector. The Young Nonprofit Professionals Network National Conference breakout sessions were all about leadership, innovation and sustainability – and all taught by young people. I kept thinking how great it would be if the average nonprofit conference were more like this – with more age diversity among speakers instead of the same talking heads that we hear from over and over, year after year with the same tired ideas simply packaged into a new conference theme.

But I digress. The point is that I don’t think we’ll have to wait for the evolution of the nonprofit sector much longer. The natives are getting restless, as they say. The people “on the ground” are tired of the status quo and beginning to share their voices, out loud and in larger groups. A new generation of leaders are on the horizon, approaching the nonprofit field with vigor and passion, ready to fix what’s broken. That’s why I was so excited to share my presentation 6 Ways to Rock Your Nonprofit Career with the YNPN folks to help them take their talent to even greater heights within the sector.

Because they’re showing up just in time. In every practical sense, nonprofit organizations are DYING. That is, the traditional, hierarchal, compete-for-money-or-close-our-doors, scarcity-mindset organizations led by 60 year old white men are quickly becoming unsustainable in a rapidly changing world. We need new leadership models, new perspectives and new ways of doing the important work that the world needs us to do.

We also need new models for nonprofit education.

At Benchmark 3.5, I gave a presentation about using social media for nonprofit professional development called Social is the New Black: 7 Online Learning Models as Low-Cost Professional Development. My point was that there is so much more we can do to provide continuing education to nonprofit professionals beyond the typical degree programs or expensive conferences! I’ve actually been experimenting with these seven technology tools to facilitate online learning over the past few years with increasing success (especially with webinars, of which you’ll see more from me soon).

I also sat on a panel of professors and university administrators about using online tools for teaching nonprofit management and leadership. Most were in support of the use of new technology and agreed that we ALL need to prioritize learning it ourselves. But we also had an interesting conversation about how traditional nonprofit programs can compete with the new online degree programs that are coming out of University of Phoenix, Capella University and others. Many on the panel talked about a new benchmark/accreditation program called Quality Matters that would distinguish the “good” online programs from the “bad.” Not surprisingly, I was the lone dissenter on the panel who disagreed with the idea of focusing our time and energy on discrediting the for-profit programs. Instead, I think we can learn a lot from how UofPhoenix and others market and appeal to students with convenience and relevance of courses. We can no longer be on the “offense” in the nonprofit world. We’ve got to learn from what’s working in other sectors, incorporate new approaches in our work, partner with those who are making an impact and focus on getting even better at what we do.

But whether we like it or not, the sector WILL evolve. Market forces will eventually leave us no choice. Young people will vote with their feet in terms of working for certain types of organizations or choosing certain types of nonprofit degree programs (or no nonprofit degrees at all). It’s up to us to decide if we want to move forward with the changes or get left behind.

Food for thought? You bet. In the meantime, here’s a roundup of the blog posts and Twitter conversations around both conferences offering a ton of bright ideas for you to chew on. Would love to hear what you think!

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network 2011 National Conference

Blog Updates: http://ynpn.org/blog

Twitter Hashtag: #ynpn11

Benchmark 3.5: Nonprofit Educators Leading, Learning and Creating the Future

Blog Updates: http://www.naccouncil.org/blog

Twitter Hashtag: #benchmark3

Filed Under: Diversity, Higher Education, Leadership · Tagged With: , , , , ,

Four Reasons Why You Don’t Need to Go to Grad School

January 5, 2011 by · 32 Comments


A lot of my peers are at the stage in their lives where they’re thinking about going back to school. After being out of undergrad for a few years, they’re considering grad school, law school, MBAs, MPAs, JDs, MPPs. You name it, they’re exploring it. Now look, I would never knock getting a graduate degree. Hell, I have one myself. And higher education can certainly be beneficial to both your overall personal growth as well as career advancement.

But you have to go back to school for the right reasons.

Why did I get a Master’s degree? I did it mainly so I could make more money and get some clout in my industry. But a lot of people go because they think they need more knowledge…which is the absolute worst reason ever.

Knowledge is free.

I mean, that’s what we have libraries for. Okay, sure, the newer, shinier books might cost you some money, but even if you bought 100 of them at $20 a book, it would still be cheaper than paying for grad school. The truth is, most of us really don’t need to go back to school. For many people, it’s just a pit stop on their career journey because they can’t figure out what they want to do with their lives. And grad school works best for those who know exactly what they want to do and why. Also, doctors and lawyers.

For everyone else, grad school is just an expensive way to learn the same stuff you get in a $20 book and doesn’t even guarantee you a good job when you graduate. Here’s a few more reasons why you (yes, YOU) probably don’t need to go to grad school.

You don’t need grad school to learn.

That’s what books are for. Read them. Take notes. Act on the ideas you find inside. If you don’t have money for books, read blogs. Or, here’s another idea: go out there and talk to people. Find mentors. Ask lots of questions. Interview people who are doing what you want to do. Ask them how they got there. Ask them what they had to learn. Then do something with the information you get. Use it, darling. USE IT.

You don’t need grad school to be good at your job.

That’s what workshops, seminars, conferences are for. They are really more up-to-date, specific and relevant to your industry than grad school will ever be. Most things you learn on the job, anyway. Everything you read in books is all in theory until you try it out yourself. You read something, you learn something, you try it out at work. Then you adjust accordingly based on the results you get. Oh, that program/policy/project didn’t work? Let’s try something else. You learn from experience. Books give you the knowledge, but action gives you the wisdom.

You don’t need grad school to teach you how to be a leader.

Psst. The inconvenient truth is that leadership skills can only be learned by actually leading. By starting something, finishing it, taking risks and learning from your mistakes and successes. You don’t lead by reading a book or writing a paper and getting a grade on it. You just don’t. Look, I’ll prove it to you. Think about any one of the leaders who most inspire you. Do you admire them for going to grad school or having a million letters behind their name or do you admire them for how their actions changed people’s lives?

You don’t need grad school to make you remarkable.

You don’t need grad school to validate your talents and passions. That’s what the real world is for. It’s the original testing ground for your hopes and dreams and your ideas for how to make them happen. If you’re struggling with how to advance in your career, grad school should NOT be your first or even last resort. It is not a panacea for mediocrity. Grad school will not make you better at what you do unless you decide to get better at what you do. And then DO IT.

I could go on and on here, but I think you get my point. You don’t need grad school to “become” anything more than you are right now. You’re already brilliant and passionate and deep down, you know exactly what it is you were put here on earth to do. Now, you just need the skills to pay the bills and the courage to change the world. And, my dear reader, you most definitely do NOT need grad school for that.

Filed Under: Career Advice, Higher Education, Leadership · Tagged With: ,

28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders: Michael Lomax

February 19, 2010 by · 1 Comment

Dr. Lomax - President and CEO of UNCF

Dr. Michael L. Lomax is president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF),

From the UNCF website:

As president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Dr. Michael L. Lomax heads the nation’s largest and most successful minority higher education assistance organization. Through its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, and 24 field offices across the country, UNCF annually provides operating and program funds to its 39 member private historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and their 60,000 students. In addition, it manages more than 400 scholarship programs that support nearly 10,000 students at over 900 of the nation’s colleges and universities. In the course of its 62-year history, UNCF has raised and distributed over $2.5 billion and has assisted over 300,000 students in earning undergraduate degrees. In 1999, UNCF received over $1 billion, the largest private gift to American higher education, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to administer the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, which provides outstanding minority students with an opportunity to complete their undergraduate and graduate college educations.

Dr. Lomax joined UNCF after serving in a series of high-level academic and political positions. Immediately before joining UNCF, he served seven years as president of Dillard University in New Orleans.

Dr. Lomax went to Dillard after thirty years in Atlanta, where he pursued simultaneous full-time careers as a university professor and public servant. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Atlanta’s Morehouse College (the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King) and, after receiving his M.A. degree from Columbia University and his Ph.D. in American and African American literature from Emory University, taught literature at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges and the University of Georgia.

At the same time, he became a prominent figure in Atlanta government and politics. He began his public service as an assistant to Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first African American mayor, and went on to serve as the first head of Atlanta’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs. In 1978, he was elected to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Two years later, he became the Board’s chairman, the first African American ever to hold that position and served in that position for twelve years.

Dr. Lomax is a trustee of Emory University, a member of the founding Council of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and a member of the Boards of Directors of Teach for America, The KIPP Foundation, The Carter Center, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Studio Museum in Harlem, The Bill T. Jones Dance Company and the National Black Arts Festival, of which he was founding chair. President George W. Bush appointed him to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He has also received numerous awards including The Laurel Crowned Circle Award from Omicron Delta Kappa (2006), the distinguished Emory Medal, the Candle in the Dark award from Morehouse College and several honorary degrees.

Dr. Lomax and his wife, Cheryl Ferguson Lomax, have two daughters, Michele and Rachel. His oldest daughter, Deignan, graduated from Dillard University in 2000.

See also: Michael on NPR in 2009, Funding Cuts Put HBCUs On The Chopping Block (audio)

See also: Michael speaking at Morehouse College’s 143rd Founder’s Day Convocation in 2010 (video, Michael’s remarks begin at 38:27)

Photo credit: UNCF

Filed Under: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African Americans, Higher Education, Leaders of Color · Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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