Your Nonprofit Life

Meet Helen Perry, Executive Director of Global Response Management. GRM delivers emergency medical care and humanitarian relief to vulnerable people in the most high-risk areas. Founded to respond to crises in countries like Yemen, Iraq, and Bangladesh, GRM is now working much closer to home: across the border in Mexico. Helen is a fearless leader who has taken this organization from the brink of extinction to a place of thriving and growth.

Show Notes: https://yournonprofitlife.com/ep26-helen-perry/

In this episode, I interview Tracy Baron Phillips, the Chief Development Officer of a private library foundation in Zionsville, Indiana. Tracy is a passionate supporter of anything related to learning, and she's especially fond of her local library.

What is the impact when a local library closes it's doors due to a pandemic? And how does a library pivot to continue serving the community through a crisis?

Show Notes: https://yournonprofitlife.com/ep25-tracy-phillips/

How DO you get books out to children who are out of school, sheltering in place, and have no access to books at home? What if I told you there was such a thing as book fairies, and they deliver!

Eileen Minogue, the Executive Director of "The Book Fairies" on Long Island in New York. Believe it or not, but—and you'll hear the full story in this episode—this organization holds a Guiness world record!

Connect on the show notes page: https://yournonprofitlife.com/ep24-eileen-minogue/

September is Hunger Action Month, and today is our second episode focusing on innovative ways small nonprofits are making a big difference for the food insecure.

Jen Nelson is the Senior Vice President of Do Good Auto Coalition—a brand new nonprofit that was started earlier this year (2020) by entrepreneur Diana Lee in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today we're looking at the direct connection between local food pantries, the logistical nightmare it can be to transport food from the donor to the pantry, and one woman's mission to optimize the entire process while ensuring equity in distribution.

On a more personal level, I'm grateful for Jen's vulnerability in this interview. I was shocked at what someone said to her following her first promotion at the nuclear power plant. She's put up with a lot over the years, and now that she's at Do Good Auto Coalition, she's stretching her beautiful wings and showing us what it's like to be a "brainiac" nonprofit leader with a passion for equity in food distribution across the entire sector.

🎧 NEW EPISODE!

September is Hunger Action Month.

My guest in this episode is Robin Peacock, the Executive Director of M.E.N.D. ("Meeting Essential Needs with Dignity") in New Jersey.

I actually had the pleasure of meeting Robin in person last year when I visited @JoanGarry up in Montclair, New Jersey, and I got to see her in action. (See video of my visit to their renovated school bus on the show notes page).

Robin has her finger on the pulse of hunger in her local community, and she has built relationships with more than 20 food pantries…and she's just getting started.

Connect on the show notes page: https://yournonprofitlife.com/ep22-robin-peacock/

If we are interested in becoming a more equitable society, then we need to understand the impact hidden biases have on newborns and their ability to bond or attach with the person breastfeeding them.

In this episode, Arissa Palmer, Executive Director of BreastfeedLA, explains what's being done to improve the odds that people of color be given the same opportunity to breastfeed and bond with their babies as majority population.

And if you listen to the end, you'll learn about a wonderful opportunity to sponsor a person of color to earn their certification thanks to a matching grant.

Terence Narcisse is 30 years old and he's already raised millions of dollars to impact his local community in East Harris County, Texas. Terence is a servant leader. He's a visionary. He's a man on a mission. He's an incredible change agent in his local community.

As the founder and Executive Director of East Harris County Empowerment Council, Terence is absolutely committed to the success of students in this unincorporated area outside of Houston proper.

He founded the organization 12 years ago, and he spends his days now writing grants and finding ways to serve all the residents of East Harris County in every way possible, especially during this pandemic.

In this episode, we talked about what life is like in an unincorporated town and who advocates for them during a natural disaster like Hurricane Harvey or a global pandemic like COVID-19. We talked about the tragic event that sparked his desire to leave a legacy, and why it's important to leave a legacy in your own community.

You'll be inspired and encouraged by this conversation, because Terence is a man who is not only changing his own community—now and for generations to come—he's also helping to heal the world.

Click to connect with Terence and view the show notes: https://yournonprofitlife.com/ep20-terence-narcisse/

Have you ever heard of Fragile X? Not a "fragile" ex-husband, ex-wife, or ex-partner. Not that kind of ex. But Fragile X, as in the chromosome: X.

Do you remember learning about X and Y chromosomes in your high school Biology class? Well, dust off your memories of the blue eyes/brown eyes chart because we're going to learn a little bit about a rare mutation in the X chromosome which results in a disorder known as Fragile X.

July is Fragile X Awareness Month, and my guest is the Executive Director of the National Fragile X Foundation, Linda Sorensen.

In this episode, Linda shares how she first learned about Fragile X Syndrome through one of her husband's coworkers, and how one of her book club buddies recommended her for a development position at the Foundation.

In addition to learning about the disease, we also discuss the challenges Linda faced working under three different—very different—Executive Directors while at the same time working on her own leadership skills.

Although Linda didn't set out to become an Executive Director, guess what? The board noticed her awesomeness and passion for the cause, and when the position opened up for the fourth time… Well, I'll let her tell you what happened next.

Listen online or on your favorite podcatcher. Click here for show notes and links: https://yournonprofitlife.com/ep19-linda-sorensen/

EPISODE 18: My guest Noelani Pearl Hunt, shares the good, the bad, and the ugly experiences she's had over the past 20 years in nonprofit leadership.

Every day Noelani leverages her leadership expertise to support members in the Village and our members-only small groups. Whether she's offering feedback on an elevator pitch or reviewing a logic model or simply holding space in a self-care zoom, you can count on Noelani for honest feedback and an empathetic ear.

Basically, she's a rock star and we're lucky to have her on our team!

Connect on the show notes page: https://yournonprofitlife.com/ep18-noelani-pearl-hunt

Today's guest ran a corporate business for twenty years and then sold it to his employees. Then, he transitioned into the nonprofit sector. He served as Executive Director of an organization that provided camp experiences for teens, and one day, while loading a trailer with camp gear, he had a heart attack, and everything changed.

Links and more information available on the show notes page: https://yournonprofitlife.com/podcast/ep17-bob-harris