“The beauty of being a black, female leader is that there is kinship with many of the clients that Rise serves. I get that systemic barriers exist; if you are from an equity-deserving community, you don’t need to convince me. We need to work together on how to lower or remove those barriers.”
Interview with the CEO of Rise Helps, a charitable organization working at the intersection of mental health and entrepreneurship
As CEO of Rise, what drew you to this role, and what about the organization’s mission felt most compelling to you personally?
I am a former entrepreneur and, even when I have worked for organizations, I was an intrapreneur. I have coached many budding entrepreneurs in the last couple of decades, so the opportunity to lead an organization that supports individuals to succeed in launching small businesses was compelling. I want every one of our clients to experience the exhilaration of that first sale, that first client. Also, I know a few people who have great capabilities, but addiction and mental health have way-laid their ability to thrive. Any person with an idea and the courage to act can blossom into an entrepreneur when given the opportunity to do so. Believing in their promise is the first investment Rise makes. We don’t define people by their situation; our programming is the very hand-up that can change the trajectory of an individual’s future.
Rise works at the intersection of mental health and entrepreneurship. Why is this model so powerful, and what impact have you seen it have on the people you serve?
Rise is the guide on the side that supports individuals to first believe in their own capabilities, and then, to bring that confidence to their small business, and ultimately to the marketplace. Entrepreneurship is a stressful, anxiety-ridden endeavour that will amplify negative self-identifiers (doubt, disbelief of worthiness, skills, resilience etc). Many of our clients have internalized these negative identifiers, as they navigate their mental health and recovery journeys. However, we know that our clients can succeed; they can build the skills required to operate a small business. This ardent respect for our clients’ abilities is embedded in our training pedagogy, custom supports like self-employment coaching and our flexible financing.
We have quantitative data that highlights how many businesses we have supported but a greater measure of success are the countless client testimonials. They describe the Rise programming rooted in the belief of individual promise as the catalyst to their confidence and, ultimately, their business success.
Leadership in the nonprofit sector often requires navigating complexity with limited resources. What leadership skills have been most essential in guiding Rise through growth and change?
For me, there are a few leadership essentials that span the nonprofit and for-profit sector.
- Understand the business you are in. While governed under different CRA legislation, non-profits should view themselves as a business. My motto is that Rise will operate as a business whose product is the mission.
- Be transparent and genuine. Stakeholders are astute and human. They want to be helpful and assist in your mission because they believe in it. Show respect, by professionally discussing the great, the good and the pieces you are still working on. The best partnerships are built when your stakeholder feels invested in your organization’s potential and, ultimately, your success.
- Be unapologetically entrepreneurial. What changes can you make to be more operationally efficient or effective. What new strategies or tactics can you develop to find partnership, grant or funding dollars. Everyone is competing for an increasingly smaller piece of the pie, so make sure that you are always looking forward to carving out another slice. Don’t forget to plant the seed now, water it along the way, so that it bears the fruit to make that pie in 2 or 3 years from now.
As a woman leading a mission-driven organization, what challenges have you faced, and what has helped you stay grounded and effective as a leader?
What keeps me grounded is a 10-year old who has no problem telling me when I am off side. As a black woman, my leadership roles have been earned through hard work, an ability to navigate and learning through failure whether caused by me or not. My parents’ unwavering conviction to their children has translated into levels of resilience that ground and support me. The beauty of being a black, female leader is that there is kinship with many of the clients that Rise serves. I get that systemic barriers exist, if you are from an equity-deserving community, you don’t need to convince me. We need to work together on how to lower or remove those barriers.
On International Women’s Day, what message would you most want to share with women who are considering stepping into leadership roles, particularly in purpose-driven work?
Leadership is an action not a title. I would encourage anyone to reflect on how you plan to lead – how are you going to show up in life, at work, at home. If you are working in nonprofit, the mission has to scream at you, and then, you figure out how to effectively lead that in that organization. At the end of the day, the mission is the purpose and the organization is like a car – it has to be well maintained, so that it can run for years longer than originally planned.