Voices of Leadership: Insights and Inspirations from Women Leaders

Philanthropic Innovation and Pioneering New Paths in Giving with Rose Greensides

• Bespoke Projects • Season 1 • Episode 14

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In today's episode, we talk with Rose Greensides, the Executive Director at Social Venture Partners (SVP). SVP is a unique partnership that brings together the time, talent, and funding from the community to support the nonprofit sector. Rose shares some inspiring stories about how SVP has helped several local organizations in the Waterloo Region. You'll be amazed at what SVP has been able to achieve through its community-driven approach.

In addition to discussing SVP's work, we also delve into the concept of imposter syndrome and why being comfortable with being uncomfortable is vital. Rose shares her experiences as both a mentor and mentee, and we explore the richness of reciprocal mentorship and the valuable lessons that every relationship teaches.

We also take a closer look at some of the larger issues facing Waterloo Region today, including the decline in volunteerism, housing and food insecurity. By the end of the episode, you'll find yourself considering how your own talents could contribute to Social Venture Partners' mission.

Connect with Rose:
Website
LinkedIn

During our conversation, we talk about some past episodes. Please find the links here:

Jane Klugman
Ginny Dybenko
Lisa Bragg
Tracy Vankelsbeek

Resources:
Social Venture Partners
Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region
Bereaved Families of Ontario (BFO) – Midwestern Region

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Rose:

I think, even for younger leaders, giving them more opportunities to lead. So it's not the same people around the table, you know, taking that chance. I know in the not-for-profit sector we are coming up to a major turnaround with leadership. We need a cohort or an army of leaders ready to step in, and I'd love to see some younger women be part of that solution.

Amy:

Welcome to Voices of Leadership, the podcast that shines a spotlight on the remarkable women of the International Women's Forum. I'm your host, amy, and I'm inviting you on a journey through the minds of trailblazers. Each episode is a candid conversation with women leaders who are reshaping industries, defying norms and being instigators of change. Through these conversations, we aim to ignite a fire of inspiration within you, whether you're a budding leader, a seasoned executive or simply someone with a passion for growth. On today's episode, we welcome Rose Greensides. Rose is currently the Executive Director at Social Venture Partners.

Amy:

Svp is a unique partnership of giving that brings together the time, talent and funding from the community to support the nonprofit sector. Rose shares some of the inspiring stories of how SVP has helped several local organizations in the community, and we also dive into her experience as both a mentor and a mentee. Plus, we talk about some of the larger issues that are facing Waterloo Region today. Hi Rose, welcome to the podcast. It's so nice to see you. Thanks, amy. Thanks for having me. We don't know each other very well, so I'm very excited for our conversation.

Rose:

Yeah, we kind of know each other through other people but haven't really sat down and chatted, so I'm excited about this too.

Amy:

That's right. Very Kitchener-Waterloo of us right.

Rose:

And Cambridge. We'll throw Cambridge in there just for fun. That's right. Sorry, kitchener-waterloo.

Amy:

Cambridge of us. So I'd like to start with IWF. So how and when did you get involved with IWF?

Rose:

Yeah. So I think one of my mentors that I've had for quite a bit of time has been Jenny DeBanco, and Jenny's obviously part of IWF and as well as Jane Klugman, and so I was sort of approached saying, listen, this is like a great group of women, you should be part of it. And then I sort of looked at the roster. I'm like, yes, yes, sign me up. How do I, how, how do I get to be a part of like this awesome group of women in the region and in the world? So and that was, I guess, about a year and a half ago, I think this is my second year.

Amy:

So you're a fairly new member. How do you like it so far?

Rose:

Yeah, I love it, so I. The first event I went to was, I guess, last year, when I think it was a conference that we held in Waterloo and it was great so many wonderful women. Like anything else, you have to put time into it in order to get something out of it, and so I like that there are different events at different times of the year, and I try to come as much as I can.

Amy:

Yeah, you went big the first time, full on conference, not even just a diner I did.

Rose:

No, no, I went full, I went full in. I didn't even do the dine around during the conference because I had something else going on. But yeah, and I'm looking forward to doing the one in Toronto in June as well.

Amy:

Yes, it should be fun. It's coming up, it's going to be great, yeah. So I'd like to first talk about your current position. You're the Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Waterloo Region. For anyone who may not be familiar with your organization, can you tell us a bit about what SVP Waterloo is? Bit about what SVP Waterloo is.

Rose:

Yeah, for sure, and that's always a tough question on you know, what is it? What is this SVP thing? And I always break it down and make it really simple and it's a network of community minded people who are trying to make the world a better place. And how we do that is supporting and investing in not-for-profits or social impact organizations in the community, and we do that in a slew of ways, but ultimately, this network that we have, we call them our partners or SVP partners. I am a partner as well, and we donate our money, time and talent to various local social profit initiatives.

Amy:

That is very broad. Do you fund organizations? I assume?

Rose:

Yeah, it's very much like a venture capital model, but it's a venture philanthropy model. So what we do is we sort of go out and look for organizations that are really ready to take their work to the next level. It could be a mental health organization, it could be a food security organization, a housing organization, and we really get to know who they are. So we really believe in that trust-based philanthropy. So it's not like there is, you know, we're the funder and they're the charity. Instead, we partner with them.

Rose:

So we will invest unrestricted funding, which, for those of the audience that don't know, the charitable sector is, you know, notorious for giving very specific, restricted funding, which makes it very difficult for organizations to be able to be bold. And so SVP says no, we want you to be bold, we want to learn who you are. So we'll give you unrestricted funding, but more than that, we're going to give you the time and talent of our local partners to help you build the capacity, so then you can do your work more efficiently and then support more people. And so we choose a few organizations a year. But then we also have many other programs where we get our partners involved in the community Usually our partners.

Rose:

They know a little bit about the not-for-profit sector but they're really looking to give back in intentional ways. But they're really looking to give back in intentional ways. And so I kind of look at SVP as a bridge. We have the for-profit sector that has HR, marketing, board governance experience, and then you have the not-for-profit sector that may have some of those things but ultimately it's hard to fund some of those things. So we really are the bridge or the conduit that bring those two sectors together and we find that when we do that and we bring those community-minded people and organizations that are doing awesome work in the same space, magic happens.

Amy:

So we talked about funding. You also mentioned time and talent, so can you give us some examples about how people help organizations with their time and talent?

Rose:

Yeah, I can, and I can give you some specific examples. One of the organizations that we supported starting in 2019 is the Sexual Assault Support Center, so their work is very critical in the community. I think there's over 300 women waiting on the waiting list to get support, and we really believed in their senior leadership and so we were able to give them unrestricted money, but also we were able to help them with a few key projects to move them along. It's a funny story because one of the first projects we were sitting down with the CEO, sarah, and we're like okay, sarah, what's keeping up at night? Like what's happening right now? This was like the very beginning of our relationships. Like a month in, and she's like you know, I have this lease and it's coming due, and they're like raising the rent and there's no way we're going to be able to stay here, and she was really losing sleep over it. And so we looked at her and said, well, should we just do a legal review of your, of your lease and what we can find to make that a little bit more affordable? And she was like, oh, my gosh, yes, so in the first month, we were able to save them like $145,000 in rent costs over three years. So that's like one really cool specific example.

Rose:

And then we went in and did a strategic plan with them. So we really brought their board and senior leadership together and said, okay, if you really want this waiting list to go away, what are some of the priorities we need to do now in order to get you to that next phase? And that was awesome. We did some board governance work with them. And then the last project we did with them is we created a case for support for them.

Rose:

So we knew that if we were going to get those women off the waiting list, we needed to hire more counselors. So one of our partners who does fundraising helped us put a case for support together and we went to the community and I can't remember what the number is, but I'm pretty sure she's raised over $275,000 in the first few months. So just some. You know money's important but, like the time and talent that our partners are able to give to these organizations, it's usually for every $1 we donate we're able to show $6 of return. So it's an incredible model that just seems to work here in Waterloo.

Amy:

Well, I like it too, because not everyone has the funding necessarily, but they may have the talent and time. So you must have a broader pool of partners to draw from.

Rose:

You are exactly right. So originally we had a sort of registered charity, so when someone donates to us they get a tax receipt. But there was originally a specific amount that we asked partners to give us, as well as their time and talent, and we just felt that that was a really large barrier to entry. And so over the last year and a half we have partners that give us double, triple or sometimes quadruple the amount of our original limit, but they don't have any time and talent. And then, on the other hand, we have some younger professionals or just professionals that have all that time and talent and all that energy that we want, and we bring them in and we just ask them to donate what is personally significant to them. So that might mean $500 a year, $5,000 a year or $50,000 a year, but at the end of the day we are a complete partner network and when we combine that time, talent and treasure, it's really an awesome thing.

Amy:

It sure is. Wow. How do you find the partners? Do they approach you? Do you approach them, and is there a criteria for joining?

Rose:

Yeah, good question. So I started SVP about eight and a half years ago and so when I started, it was very much a tech bubble, so there was a lot of tech entrepreneurs and that makes sense. Based on we were located accelerator center and the founders were two tech entrepreneurs and I really wanted to make that brought more broad. I mean, we want the tech sector to get involved, but there's also the insurance. You know the insurance sector and you know moms that are so smart but are at home with their kids and you know you know having some of them part of like strategy discussions and also having them learn skills so that they can give back to the not-for-profits that they care about has been awesome. So we've grown significantly since then.

Rose:

So I would say that it's a pretty wide spectrum of who comes. We do ask that partners, once they're involved with SVP and they sort of get to know us, they refer people that they think might be interested and then occasionally, we just had a major event and and we'll have those events and we'll sort of talk to the audience and say, okay, do you have passion for the community? Do you have some skill sets that you want to bring to the not for profit sector. And do you have time? And if you have all those three things, then come chat with us and if it's a fit, great, and if it's not a fit, I usually can find them a place to land.

Amy:

Well, it sounds really good. In my research I also noticed that within the organization you have some very interesting programs. Can you tell us a little bit about SVP, Teens and Perfect Pitch?

Rose:

Yeah, SVP Teens. They are a group of incredible teenagers, so they're aged 12 to 18, and they're almost like a mini group of the SVP adult program. So there's 50 teens currently in this program. Within Waterloo Region, I think, we represent eight schools, so it is completely youth led. We do have a program coordinator that keeps their checks and balances, but these amazing humans learn about the community and they choose what they want to learn about. They also fundraise. So they fundraise so they can do a grant to a local organization that they choose. So they go through a grant making process, which are great skills for them, right? They're going in and they're asking for money, which is hard to do, and they're creating criteria on who to choose out of the pool of organizations that are coming. They're going through financial statements with these organizations. So tons of building skills and leadership opportunities, and then ultimately, they choose an organization and they fund them Next month. Actually, what they're very interested in learning about is human trafficking and why it's so significant in the region. So we have a couple of people, including Chief Crowell, who will come and talk about that to them, and the last card questions. But yeah, so that's a great program. And then Perfect Pitch. So we just finished Perfect Pitch about two weeks ago, so we're still riding that high, but we brought that program here in 2018. So we have done it four times and it really is a chance for not-for-profits to craft their pitch.

Rose:

So in Waterloo, we spend a lot of money helping tech entrepreneurs figure out what their pitch is, providing them an opportunity to share that pitch for investments, and we don't do that in the not-for-profit sector, and so I said we're going to change that. So what we do is we pick eight organizations and really hard to choose because they're all doing amazing work and we take them through about a two month I'm going to call it a bootcamp a two month worth of sessions to really get into not necessarily what they do, but why they do it. And it's a tough process, right, because they're so involved operationally. They're just thinking about programs and services, so like scratching that off the top and really going into the why. So they go through this process with coaches, and our coaches are partners. They may have marketing experience, but they may also just be partners who want to help these organizations and also learn skills from others who are crafting their pitch. And then at the end of those sessions we have an opportunity for them to share their pitches on stage, and we did that again a couple of weeks ago at Fed Hall at University of Waterloo. And then at the end of those sessions, we have an opportunity for them to share their pitches on stage, and we did that again a couple of weeks ago at Fed Hall at University of Waterloo and we had 375 people.

Rose:

They have an ask and our goal in that event night is that it inspires people and it lights their philanthropic fire. We want people to sit in that audience and say I had no idea that was happening. How can I get more involved, whether that's being on the board, volunteering, giving 50 bucks a month, whatever that means. So it's a great evening. It's not a competition. We remove the competition completely out of it. So all of the sponsorship money that SVP raises goes directly to each of the organizations equally, and then each audience member gets to choose where they want 100% of their ticket to go to, because some people are interested in different organizations. So we stripped the competition. But there's a small competition because someone wins the audience choice award, but everyone walks out with something and we raised just under $50,000 in one night for those eight organizations, so it was a lot of fun.

Amy:

Oh, congratulations. I believe fellow IWF member Michelle Dennison from Strong Start was there. Is that correct?

Rose:

Yes, so Michelle pitched and, funny enough, julie Barker-Murr is also an IWF was the expert that helped us through those workshops, so she was the one that came in and was so awesome at like really helping these organizations think differently. So we owe a lot to Julie, and Michelle did awesome, of course. So, and we had some IWFs in the room. Jane Klugman was also a coach, so she was a coach. Yeah, Tracy was a coach. Tracy Van Kelsby was a coach, so we should have just called it an IWF event.

Amy:

Yeah, we should have. Yeah, That'd be great. Oh, it's so good to hear, though that sounds like such fun. I wasn't able to go. I'll have to come next time because it sounds great.

Rose:

Yes, you will. I will make sure you come next.

Amy:

So then, looking forward, what is next for SVP Waterloo?

Rose:

come next. So then, looking forward, what is next for SVP Waterloo? Yeah, so we're right smack dab in the middle of a strategic plan, because, why not, let's just do a major event and have all these things happen and throw in a strategy. It's what we do. It's what we do, why not? So we're right in the middle of it and our goal will really be to be bigger, better and bolder. So I'm not sure what that, what that looks like yet I have some ideas, but you know I don't want to have too many ideas before the strategy is set. But I really think that you know, we want to be able to have more people engaged and be able to also provide enough opportunities for them to be intentionally engaged but also help the sector. We believe that when we really invest in the social profit sector, waterloo Region just becomes a better place. So that's exciting. We're excited about what's coming up. So stay tuned.

Amy:

We will for sure. So as an executive director, I was just curious. So you've been an executive director for both brief families of Ontario in the Midwestern region and SVP Waterloo. So how did you find your career Like? Did you always have a goal of being an executive director, or was it something you learned about along the way?

Rose:

This is absolutely not where I thought I would be If I went back to when I was, you know, 18 or 20. So I was in the financial services industry. I loved it. It was a great place for me. I had a young son at home and then I had a daughter that unfortunately passed away. So for me, yeah, so within like a six month period of time, I had a daughter that passed away in a house that completely burnt to the ground, and it was really Amy at that moment where it was like, do I want to be doing something with my life that matters or do I want to be doing something with my life that just makes money? And so we got involved with Brie Families to support us through that process and our son through that process. And I got really interested in the sector and I joined their strategic planning committee and in it I just saw all the gaps with a business lens, like, oh, if we just did this and that. And so, like many other executive directors in this sector, I got roped in to be the executive director of that organization and I did it for eight years and I loved it. I mean the people that I met, the stories I heard the healing, I saw all those things helped me in my own grief journey as well. And then what happened was I got approached to look at this SVP gig and I knew about SVP, but I didn't really know about SVP and so I thought, okay, well, I'll go check it out. And I sat down with two of the founders, jackie Murphy and Tim Jackson, and I wasn't really interested in the job, but literally within five minutes I was hooked. I wasn't really interested in the job, but literally within five minutes I was hooked. I'm like this makes absolute sense. So you're telling me you're not only going to give these organizations unrestricted money, but you're also going to partner with them and help build their capacity in a pro bono way. Like, how do I sign up for this? And so that's what happened. And I've been here eight and a half years later.

Rose:

I think I was always taught from a young child to think about more than myself. I come from a family I grew up in Lustwell. I'm the youngest of four kids. My parents immigrated here in the 70s and I think I learned from my dad especially that if you walk by someone and they're in need, you know. I think I learned from my dad, especially that if you walk by someone and they're in need, you just help, and so that was always instilled in me as a value and I volunteered, you know, as an adolescent, not because I needed 40 hours, but because I felt that that was the right thing to do, and so that part has always been in me. But I think just life circumstances have has just sort of led me here, and I'm I'm extremely grateful for that.

Amy:

Wow, that that's an incredible story, that your personal life really led you to where you are and the fact that you you were able to do that is very admirable. And wow, that's just incredible that you've done that. Thank you, and you're volunteering. I mean, you mentioned 40 hours. I don't think either of us went to school when 40 hours were required.

Rose:

No, no, no. And so when I say that to my kids, I'm like so you?

Amy:

know, we just did it. We just did it Because we did, we just did it, that's right.

Rose:

No, one told us to, and we didn't get a $100 gift card when we did it either. Thank you for volunteering and here's a gift card. Okay.

Amy:

So, speaking of youth, what was your first experience in a leadership position?

Rose:

I think I've been in leadership positions like all the way through my schooling system in some way, shape or form. But I would say that the largest leadership opportunity I had was at Brave Families, and that was an interesting opportunity to start with, just because I had never been in that sector before it. Brie Families and that was an interesting opportunity to start with, just because I had never been in that sector before. It was very new. Now I'm reporting to a board like what is that going to be like, all of those pieces, and then it's kind of just snowballed from that. I think with SVP I've just had lots of leadership opportunities and I love that. But I also love the reciprocal value of being a leader. So I always say that my staff is way smarter than me, and so what I learned from my staff and our partners really helped me to be a better leader.

Rose:

I think I've changed my leadership style over the last 17 years for a positive, I hope, but that's been a challenge as well. How I led 16 years ago was probably more of a micromanager. You know a little bit needed to be in control of what was happening, and now if you asked my staff, I think they'd say you know, it's okay to make a mistake, we'll just won't do it again and we'll figure it out right, like just so. It's been an interesting journey when I, when I, when I look back at how I was and how I am today.

Amy:

Yeah, hopefully that's the goal, right? Is that our leadership style and focus evolves over time? So I had this question I feel like you've already answered it and come up against so many significant obstacles. However, let's say from your business experience, what was the time you came up against a significant obstacle in your career and how did you overcome it?

Rose:

Yeah, that's a tough one. I mean, there's been so many obstacles, you know, leading a smaller organization through somewhat of a financial crisis, when we think about the timeline that I was at Brave Families, but I think from a I'll kind of go from like a personal leadership piece. Every time I've taken a new leadership role, I've always had a bit of imposter syndrome. Like my head knows I can do it, but like there's something in the back of my head that's like can you really do this? Like can you really pull this off? And so you hear yourself say that and you hear the other person on the other side of your shoulder that says, of course you can, you're going to knock it out of the park.

Rose:

But you know, those two things have always been something that I've struggled with and I still struggle with it. You know, like am I worthy enough to take on this, this next gig? I remember when I, when I got the job with social venture partners, the first thing I said to a good friend of mine was wow, they're taking a risk on me. And she just looked at me and she's like what are you talking about? No, you're taking a risk with them. Like this is like you got this and so it's just that mind shift, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that. But I think when people see me they're like, oh well, you mustn't have any of that and I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to.

Amy:

Lisa Bragg, she's an author and in her book she calls it actually imposter experience, and I actually kind of related to that. I did too, because I think we all have it and I think it doesn't go away. It's just about how we handle it. I like that better than imposter Syndrome. Yeah syndrome.

Rose:

Yeah, I agree, because the syndrome almost makes it sound like it's bad, but the experience could actually turn out to be really positive, like, okay, it's an experience and you have to get go through it and you just have to change the way you think about it. Yeah, I love that. I will definitely start start using it.

Amy:

Well, and syndrome suggests something's wrong with us or wrong with feeling that way. I think we all get nervous in situations when we're outside of our comfort zone, and that's really what it is. Yeah, totally. So let's move on to mentorship. You have been a mentor over the years both with Rise Venture and Lauren Scholars Foundation. Can you talk to us a little bit about how you approach mentorship?

Rose:

Yeah, those two in particular were a lot of fun and they still are I'm still part of the Loren program were a lot of fun and they still are. I'm still part of the Loren program. And I don't even like the word mentor, because what I find in working with these young entrepreneurs or young students is that they just need a sounding board and they already have it figured out, like my Loren, my Loren young woman who is at University of Waterloo she's brilliant. Like I am learning way more from her than I think she's learning from me, and so I really approach it like it's just reciprocal, like let's go out for coffee if I have an experience. Providing them opportunities is something that I think I can do. So, like, if they're looking for a job, what can I do to like get them to where they need to be? Obviously, I'm very passionate about the not-for-profit sector, so when I can get them involved in the not-for-profit sector, I absolutely do that and hopefully they're going to learn some type of skill along the way.

Rose:

I love that piece. I don't love the name mentor. I think it's just you know people learning from each other and also just you know having someone that's not in your circle that you can talk to, whether it's work related or a project related, and there's no assumptions, it's just pure human to human, and so I've really enjoyed both of those, and I know I've gotten a lot out of getting mentored myself well, you mentioned both Ginny and Jane, of course, and I think everybody I talked to mentions Ginny and Jane outside of them, who have been some mentors of yours over the years.

Rose:

Yeah, I think my board chair. So Ginny was actually one of my board chairs for many years, so that's how I kind of got to know her a little better and then I got to be friends with her after she was not my board chair, because now I can do that. You know, tim Jackson, I think for sure, has also been a big mentor for me. A lot of my partners, like they just, you know, they're such good people and they, you know, they're always willing to sit down with me if I, you know, if I have something that I'm struggling with, and they're very nonjudgmental. And then some really, really smart not-for-profit leaders when I thought of the Sexual Assault Support Center, sarah Castleman so Ruth's sister, actually is the CEO. So small world here in Waterloo Region, but how she navigates all of the challenges she has. So I have so many, I have so many and but you know, ginny is is definitely someone who has really believed in me and and I'm so grateful for not only the mentorship but our friendships.

Amy:

So can you tell us a little bit about Ginny and or Jane's mentorship style and what you liked best about it?

Rose:

Yeah, so both of them are very similar in the way that you know they're just a lot of fun at the same time, right, so you never feel like it's someone talking down to you.

Rose:

It is, again, very reciprocal. They also are just open and vulnerable and you know, you look at those two women, you're like, oh my gosh, they have it all together, like I'll never be like them, you know. And then you sit with them and you hang out with them and they, like you know you're chatting and you just learn so much from how they've navigated their own challenges and how they've overcome that and uh, but ultimately it always feels like it's a level playing field. You know they're never telling you what to do, they're just offering another, another idea, another piece and really trying to validate how you're feeling in the situation. And I think that's and especially having women. You know, like I've had a couple of men mentors and they're great, but there's just some a difference, right, Like there are some things that women have to go through that men don't necessarily have to go through, and so so that's been really helpful as well, and I hope to carry on those relationships for a long time.

Amy:

That's great. They are wonderful women and I agree with you. We need women to talk to women, because some things are different and that's okay. It's just kind of how it is and it's good that we can all figure it out together and we don't feel alone or that we're the only ones going through it as well Exactly so, on a broader note, I have a couple of broader questions. I would like to ask what do you think is one of the most significant issues facing Waterloo Region today?

Rose:

Oh man, there's so many. You know, as we're doing our strategic plan, we're diving into some metrics about what's happening in the community and some, you know, real pain points. And I mean some of the pain points that we all see is housing. I mean, that's the pain point that we've been talking about for a long time. It's not going away. So that definitely is one.

Rose:

Food insecurity obviously is the second one, food prices but there is one that I don't think is as visual or as noticed, and that is volunteerism.

Rose:

So volunteerism since COVID has been drastically declining, and that's because people are tired and they weren't doing it through COVID. Some places still aren't taking volunteers, but the amount of need that I'm hearing from the not-for-profit sector is just extremely overwhelming. We just don't have enough volunteers to do this. Whether it's a housing organization that needs someone to come and make breakfast one day a week, they're just not finding those people, whereas before it was just part of our culture, and so that is something I am extremely concerned about, because when we stop doing that and we stop going to places and learning about and using our skills to help these organizations, we forget about it, and when we forget about it, we're not going to do something about it. So that is one area that I think is in desperate need, and we know that Waterloo Region is going to be a million people soon, and so that's just going to just continue to be a challenge.

Amy:

And how do you think SVP can help with that?

Rose:

Yeah, the volunteerism thing is kind of what we do.

Rose:

So I think when I meet with potential partners, oftentimes they'll say to me I want to give back and I have all these skills to do it, but I don't want to join a golf tournament, like I don't want to have to get, you know, prizes for silent auction and we can all. We've all been there, right, where we've had to. Like that's what we do. We're sitting and we're doing golf tournament volunteers. They want to do something really impactful, and especially the younger generation, right, they want to be actively involved, and so SVP provides that opportunity for them and we match them accordingly. So, you know, if they have social media skills and you're like, okay, great, and we know that this organization is in need of that, then we're matching those two in a very intentional way. And again, that's where sort of that magic happens. So we play a small part in that space, but I think it's going to be. You know, we're going to need to grow in order to play a larger, a larger part in it, cause it is something that that keeps me up at night.

Amy:

So I didn't, I didn't realize that something that you do. So if someone wanted to volunteer and they said I have this much time with this many skills, you can help match them with an organization.

Rose:

Yeah, I would. I mean if, if someone came to me and said I have time and talent and you know, I would try to invite them to become a partner? Um, because ultimately then we have opportunities that, uh, we could match them with Now if we didn't have an opportunity, I'm pretty connected in the community so I can be like you know what. Let me put you in touch with X, y or Z? Um. So it might not be a curated opportunity, but I would never leave them empty handed. But ultimately I want them as a partner because then I'm going to be able to use them for multiple projects, or our partners also help choose what organizations we invest in. So getting a good wide spectrum of people making those decisions is super important for us, and then they get to learn about organizations that need help and what they need help with. So even that process of like choosing who we invest in is an awesome process for for people who want to get involved.

Amy:

Well, I like that too, because, like, being able to volunteer in multiple organizations can be interesting, rather than having to decide which one you give all your time to.

Rose:

Yeah, and that's you know. We have some partners that can just give money and what they say is go to SVP. They do all of the research, right. They're the ones that are doing the due diligence. Rose will take care of you, right? And then they just write me a check, and that works for some people as well.

Amy:

So then, with regard to women leaders, what do you think the biggest challenge facing female leaders is today?

Rose:

I would say that it's probably no different than every time I get a new job and I think, oh man, am I good enough? So that imposter experience is just very prevalent. I have a couple of friends who have been out of the job market for a while and I just see how brilliant they are, yet in their own mind they don't feel like they're good enough, and so I think that we just need to do a better job as women, to pump each other up and make sure that we don't forget how awesome we are, and so I think that's a big piece. I think it's changing. I think that we're doing better at that, but I think even for younger leaders, giving them more opportunities to lead, so it's not the same people around the. We are coming up to a major turnaround with leadership, and there's going to be a lot of leaders that retire or do something different, and so you know we need a cohort or an army of leaders ready to step in, and I'd love to see some younger women be part of that solution.

Amy:

I didn't realize that. I guess that makes sense. I'm sure there's points in time where there is large turnover in the nonprofit sector.

Rose:

Yeah, and it's coming, and I think that you know COVID made it very difficult for not-for-profit leaders. You know we're all pretty tired and also there's an ending time when you're with an organization for a period of time, and so there, definitely, you know, I would say that's one thing that keeps me up as well is, you know, when we have these leadership turnovers, making sure we're just not recycling leaders unless that makes sense. But really being able to bring a spotlight to someone who hasn't had that experience yet and who we know will rock it.

Amy:

So for that individual who doesn't have the experience but wants to sort of get a seat at the table, what advice do you have for up and coming leaders?

Rose:

Don't underestimate yourself and just because you haven't had experience in that specific job space, that doesn't mean you don't have experience that is very relatable. And don't undercut yourself. There's a stat about when women apply for jobs and men apply for jobs, and women usually apply for jobs that are way lower in a pay grade because they don't think that they can do it. And so don't undervalue yourself and go through the imposter experience. Tell yourself, change that wording in your head and take a chance. Take a risk. What's the worst that can happen? It doesn't work out. Okay, what'd you learn from that experience? But, yeah, take a risk. Take a risk on yourself and I'd be bold about it and I should give myself the same advice. So I will.

Amy:

There you go, you just listen to this when it's done and have that advice. But it's great advice for all of us Old, middle, young leaders. I think it's really good to take a risk, because we often get settled where we are and then we don't sometimes. I think.

Rose:

Yeah, it's comfortable. You know it's comfortable, but it's okay to be uncomfortable sometimes too.

Amy:

Yes, it is. Thank you so much, Rose, for taking time today. I really didn't know a lot about SVP, so I've learned a lot today. It sounds like such a great organization and I also didn't realize how deeply ingrained in the community it is. So thank you for doing that job. I think it's really very valuable for our community.

Rose:

Well, thank you for having me, and it sounds like I'm going to rope you into becoming a partner, now that I know that you're good at podcasts, you're in big trouble.

Amy:

Thank you for listening today. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and subscribe to our podcast. When you do this, it raises our podcast profile so more leaders can find us and be inspired by the stories our Voices of Leadership have to share. If you would like to connect with us, please visit the Voices of Leadership website. It can be found in our show notes.

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Amy Schlueter

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