Leniece Flowers Brissett

Aside from goodwill and experience, how else can you show appreciation for your volunteer team? When working with a volunteer team, be mindful of their labor and ensure the relationship is mutually beneficial so it isn't extractive or exploitive. If you can't compensate volunteers monetarily, how else can you meaningfully recognize them for their commitment in a way that's aligned to their interests and needs?

Determine whether low EQ is an outlier (individual issue) or a reflection of your organization’s culture (systemic issue). Next assess the potential upside/downside to addressing the individual or system and whether there’s openness to change. Reflect on your priorities as a professional at this particular phase of your career to identify trade-offs and non-negotiables. Act accordingly.

Actively seek an internal mentor who is a peer or more senior than your manager who can give you line of sight into the thinking, decision making, etc at their level of leadership. Additionally, you may enlist the support of an external coach or join/build a group for your particular role to serve as thought partners.

Being an entrepreneur is an incredible opportunity to "be the change." Whether that's ensuring there's pay equity, flexible work environment, green standards or creating policies that are equitable by design - you get to write your values into your model.

Social impact work can be demanding physically, emotionally and mentally. Creating strong boundaries and prioritizing what Dr Crystal Belle refers to as Radical Self Love can be the difference between sustainability and burnout. And by self love, I’m not just referring to a vacation or bubble bath. What are the habits, practices and activities that feed your core?

With one critical caveat: share stories in a way that humanizes the communities you speak of without objectifying, exploiting or tokenizing said communities. Try the following as a gut check: - tell the story and swap the communication out for your own identity or more specifically insert the name of a loved one. If it’s uncomfortable speaking of your community or loved one in this way, don’t do it for others. - get feedback from members of the community on how your narrative lands. Be open to their feedback and adjust accordingly. - be mindful of saviorism, poverty porn and other dynamics - round out your story by contexualizing your observations e.g. speak to systemic, historical and other factors that led to current state