Nonprofit Mastermind Podcast

In this episode we speak with Katy Rubin, an artist, facilitator, and founder of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. As a nonprofit, Theatre of the Oppressed NYC partners with communities that face discrimination to spark transformative action through theatre.

For the last decade, Katy has dedicated herself to illuminating the power that disenfranchised communities truly have. As a white leader, Katy has grappled with her position of power and how much space she does, and should be, taking up. We discuss questions of power dynamics, who gets to pose those questions, and how to re-shape systems for the next normal. For Katy, it is a constant evaluation of how you are perceived, how you show up, and how you elevate those around you that can truly change the status quo.

Listen in as Katy explores the challenges of systemic flaws in power balance, re-designing the process to change the outcome, and how we can move towards new narratives.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

·       [2:23] About Katy, Legislative Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed.

·       [4:35] Shaping power dynamics and what is normal.

·       [6:13] Grappling with white privilege, power, and space.

·       [8:30] Are we moving forward towards equity or are the changes situational?

·       [12:00] Learning to see the systemic flaws over blaming single people.

·       [15:18] What is the next step to creating different power narratives?

·       [19:00] Changing the design to change the system.

·       [22:50] Advice for re-imagining the next normal. 

Key quotes:

·       “Theatre of the oppressed… is about flipping the dynamic of power in terms of who gets to pose problems, who gets to ask or state what the problems are, who gets to pose questions. Also, who gets to propose solutions and who gets to hold decision makers accountable.”

·       “I’ve really been thinking about what is the value add I can bring to a process and weighing that against the space that I take up. So, really being thoughtful and really critical of how much space I do need to take up.”

·       “My dream would be that those leaders … say out loud ‘should I be in this job? Should you be in this job? Should we be taking up this space?’”

·       ‘When we talk about systems, I think that maybe all of those things are wrong, because they are holding up power. Power in one person or few people has no choice to be bad; it has no choice but to be harmful.”

·       “It doesn’t have to be a theatrical event. Who is in the room? How is the room set up? What’s the design of who’s in the room and what’s the design of the process that will lead us to a differently designed result?”

Resources Mentioned:

·       Theatre of The Oppressed NYC

·       Katy Rubin

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Mastermind, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations with $1M+ budgets that are ready to design for impact sustained at scale.  

Budget under $1M? Join Elevate and get proven step-by-step playbooks + coaching support to build each of the core elements of your nonprofit's operating system - strategic clarity, a fundraising engine, a high-performance team, and an active and engaged board!   

Connect with me!

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Today we speak with Tarik Ward, Director of Music Programs for the ELMA Philanthropies Services. Tarik and ELMA also work with Brooklyn Community Foundation, doing amazing work supporting small and emerging arts and youth development organizations.

The sustainability of nonprofits is always a question on the mind of organizations, but 2020 made it an even more pressing one. We discuss maintaining the sustainability of nonprofits in practice as well as how philanthropy can often play an unconscious role in disadvantaging black and brown led organizations. Tarik believes that if philanthropy as a whole can continue to evaluate its relationship with grantees and how success is measured, institutionalized bias can be rooted out and we can move forward towards greater equity.

Tarik explores whether nonprofit leaders should truly be afraid of sunsetting, the true nature of existential threats to nonprofits, and the importance of nurturing black and brown nonprofit leaders as we move forward.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●       [1:50] About Tarik and ELMA Philanthropies Services

●       [2:30] The existential threats to nonprofits resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic

●       [5:37] Is it inherently bad for nonprofits to consider sunsetting?

●       [8:10] How do we ensure that contraction doesn’t disproportionally affect POC nonprofit leaders?

●       [10:00] The shifting role of philanthropy in the nonprofit space

●       [15:09] Where strong nonprofit organizations come from

●       [17:45] Confronting institutionalized bias

●       [18:55] The changed role of schools in their communities

●       [21:40] What leadership needs to look like in the next normal

●       [24:45] What leaders should ask themselves in terms of operations 

Key quotes:

●       “In a practical sense, I think there’s going to be a real funding drought in 2021… I think the scary part is that what we’ve seen in 2020 was the easy part.”

●       “These are problems that have existed and we’ve been able to just float along on them but now it’s been exposed and we are forced to face all these things.”

●       “Not being there should always be a part of the solution set, just as in any market.”

●       “All of the data tells us that black and brown led nonprofits are under capitalized, under resourced and under capacity.”

●       “Traditional markers of success show up differently in different communities and have implicit bias buried into them.”

●       “No matter how big they become, it’s about how you nurture them.”

●       “What we’ve seen in COVID so far, and we’ve all seen it in different ways, is that it has exposed a lot of leaders, the good and the bad.”

●       “You have to be conscious, mindful, and intentional. This hasn’t changed a lot; it’s just magnified the problems.”

Resources Mentioned:

●       ELMA Philanthropies Services

●       Brooklyn Community Foundation

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Mastermind, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations with $1M+ budgets that are ready to design for impact sustained at scale.  

Budget under $1M? Join Elevate and get proven step-by-step playbooks + coaching support to build each of the core elements of your nonprofit's operating system - strategic clarity, a fundraising engine, a high-performance team, and an active and engaged board!   

Connect with me!

• LinkedIn
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• YouTube

In this episode, we speak with Kemi Ilesanmi, Executive Director of The Laundromat Project in Brooklyn. This project invests in artists and neighbours committed to societal change by supporting their artmaking, community building, and leadership development.

Since the start of 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic has confined many of us to our homes. For Kemi, she has seen the restrictions of time and space disappear. Conversations about equity and race were able to happen virtually and without borders. We discuss how the world has been opened up and how the conversation about equity is being pushed more to the forefront. For Kemi, as long as we make the space to ideate and dream, we can continue the hierarchical shift that has started.

Listen in as Kemi explores the collapse of space and time, the importance of community, and how we can make the right shift into the next normal.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●       [2:40] Kemi’s vision for shaping and creating the next normal

●       [7:50] The collapse of space and time: how the pandemic brought down borders

●       [11:50] The importance of having clarity of vision and setting your intentions

●       [13:35] Creating the space to have scary conversations

●       [16:15] The benefits of having Executive Director status

●       [17:25] The shaking of the hierarchy

●       [21:15] Are the equity shifts genuine or fleeting?

●       [23:09] What thought leadership means

●       [26:00] Kemi’s advice for others as we shift to the next normal

Key quotes:

●       “We are not for profit institutions; we are organizations that care about a bigger sense of purpose in the world.’

●       “One of the beautiful things that emerged from this moment is the collapsing of space and time.”

●       “This is a very hopeful answer because I think it’s slow work, as often the most important work is. Even all the shifts that have happened seemingly at lightning speed, particularly in light of the summer uprising, are because people have laid groundwork for 7 years of the BLM movement and 400 years of black resistance.”

●       “What would it look like to make our own terms? Not because all of those terms are things we can set in this moment, but because if we can’t imagine it, we definitely don’t get to have it because we can’t define it.”

●       “I think this moment has introduced and accelerated … a shaking of hierarchy because some of the strongest voices of this moment are young people.”

●       “I feel like there are some organizations that will snap back to what they used to be and what they risk is relevancy. At some point there will not be any older rich white people to support you and everybody else won’t think you matter.”

Resources Mentioned:

●       The Laundromat Project

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Mastermind, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations with $1M+ budgets that are ready to design for impact sustained at scale.  

Budget under $1M? Join Elevate and get proven step-by-step playbooks + coaching support to build each of the core elements of your nonprofit's operating system - strategic clarity, a fundraising engine, a high-performance team, and an active and engaged board!   

Connect with me!

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• YouTube

In this episode, we speak with Robyne Walker Murphy, nationally recognized art and social justice educator and Executive Director of Groundswell, a nonprofit which “brings together artists, youth, and community organizations to use art as a tool for social change.”

2020 has presented a big list of challenges to all Americans, most especially African Americans, which was highlighted following the death of George Floyd. We discuss the role of nonprofits in helping communities all across the country to move forward, as well as the question of whether we are heading in a more equitable direction going into 2021. For Robyne, as long as the spirit of love is present among the African American community, and that spirit is being passed on to our youth, there is no extinguishing the flames of social justice.

Ultimately, we discuss the silver linings this year has unveiled, and how we can all tap into the amazing opportunities that have presented themselves during these turbulent times.

Listen in as Robyne explores the possibilities of a post-COVID world, the power of using art to promote social justice, why love drives our advocacy, and looking for partners beyond the nonprofit world.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

●       [0:20] An introduction to Robyne Walker Murphy and Groundswell

●       [4:06] Robyne’s thoughts on current challenges and silver linings

●       [12:10] Embracing and leaning into hope

●       [16:00] Why more people are now understanding the need for public art

●       [19:04] Beyond words and art: Instituting actual systemic changes

●       [28:12] How the youth is pushing Black Lives Matter forward

●       [31:09] Love drives social justice

●       [39:50] Acquiring more funding for small- to mid-sized organizations

●       [42:30] The reality about power and how we can tip the scale

 Key quotes:

●       “When people ask, ‘What’s life after COVID?’ It will continue to be the guiding question. I try to stay rooted in questions more than in answers because answers are so finite. If we ask questions, the possibilities are endless.”

●       “As long as I know where I’m at, and I’m not confused on where I’m at, I can work around it.”

●       “Social justice is love. It is love, activated.”

●       “If you’ve never experienced true freedom, it is a constant march toward a reality that you have never seen. That’s also where the hope comes from—when we ignite a radical imagination. You have to radically reimagine what this world can be and work every day to figure out how to get closer to that.”

●       “Happiness is circumstantial. Joy is something that is always within you.”

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Mastermind, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations with $1M+ budgets that are ready to design for impact sustained at scale.  

Budget under $1M? Join Elevate and get proven step-by-step playbooks + coaching support to build each of the core elements of your nonprofit's operating system - strategic clarity, a fundraising engine, a high-performance team, and an active and engaged board!   

Connect with me!

• LinkedIn
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• YouTube

I’m your host Brooke Richie-Babbage. Each week on the Nonprofit Mastermind Podcast, I’m going to do a deep dive into the strategies and mindset behind launching, scaling, and leading a high-impact nonprofit. Today, I’m happy to present you with a welcome episode to outline more of what’s to come and my personal background.

With over 20 years experience as a social entrepreneur, a nonprofit leader, a professor, a consultant, and an executive coach, I know what it is really like in the trenches doing the work. In this show, I want to talk about the truth of this work; the highs and the lows. I want to go beyond what the blogs, books and workshops tell you.

Let me explain why I decided to create this show. I love podcasts. To me, they are the perfect vehicle for learning and storytelling. I also wanted to share my superpower, which is strategy. I love to create order out of chaos and make actionable paths to transformation.

The name Nonprofit Mastermind came out of my own Executive Director mastermind of sorts. For 7 years, I have met with a group of incfredible female Executive Directors for breakfast once a month. We have fostered a supportive community, shared resources, and examined our failures and our successes. We are honest and open with one another,  have always shown up with a spirit of abundance, and have approached our work together with an orientation towards action.

That is the reason I am starting this podcast. I want to foster that same sense of community and support to help others create change. Together I hope we can set in motion true transformations.

Want to work together?

Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Mastermind, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations with $1M+ budgets that are ready to design for impact sustained at scale.  

Budget under $1M? Join Elevate and get proven step-by-step playbooks + coaching support to build each of the core elements of your nonprofit's operating system - strategic clarity, a fundraising engine, a high-performance team, and an active and engaged board!   

Connect with me!

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• YouTube