

Nonprofit Lowdown
Rhea Wong
This is Nonprofit Lowdown where I review and recommend the best ideas, resources, tools, tricks and tips to run your nonprofit like a pro!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 6, 2020 • 52min
#97-Executive Coaching for BIPOC Womxn with Erica Hamilton
Erica Hamilton: mother, wife, social justice warrior, leader. For those of you who missed Erica's previous podcast episode, I'm thrilled to interview her again as she kicks off her newest adventures. Erica is passionate about social justice and supporting BIPOC womxn who may struggle to thrive in environments that were not created for them. In this interview, we chat about some big things, including:
1) Womxn of color and their relationship to money and wealth-building
2) How to know if an organization is truly down for the cause or simply doing "performative wokeness."
3) How Erica's new coaching business focuses on supporting womxn of color and how to give them the space to exhale.
Listen in on this important convo that feels like friends just hanging out and talking about the Important Stuff.
For more about Erica (and to get coaching from her!) check out: https://twitter.com/ehamilton?lang=en
To apply for the Institute for Nonprofit Practice: http://www.nonprofitpractice.org/apply-nyc

16 snips
Jul 30, 2020 • 49min
#96-Building a nonprofit brand that sparks OBSESSION with Emily Heyward
Join branding genius, Emily Heyward, as she shares top-notch tips: Simplify your message, ditch the long elevator pitch, use qualitative research, harness the fear of death for clarity, and focus on the emotional experience of your audience. Learn from the best and boost your nonprofit brand obsessions!

Jul 23, 2020 • 47min
#95-Anti-racist education and parenting with Maureen Yusuf-Morales
What a treat this interview with my dear friend and soul sister Maureen Yusuf-Morales is! Mo and I worked together at Breakthrough New York and she has gone on to become an expert educator, school founder and principal and DEI trainer. In this interview, we talk about examining and unpacking the racist practices of schooling in America, how to be an anti-racist parent and what educators and parents can do to dismantle racism. This is a fun, whole-hearted and thoughtful interview from one of the most talented educators I know.For more about Mo: https://www.maureenyusufmorales.com/ To check out anti-racist parenting resources, click here: https://www.facebook.com/curious.parenting/photos/a.113612870282449/146570016986734/?theaterFor more about the conference Maimuna mentioned: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/maimuna-mohammed-m-s-ed-7595b589_blacklivesmatter-inclusiveleadership-education-activity-6682438959559188480-dgbc

Jul 16, 2020 • 28min
#94-How to run masterminds with Jenn David-Lang
Join me and my long-time pal Jenn David-Lang to discuss how to start and run a mastermind group. In this podcast, you'll learn:
1) What is a mastermind and how can I use it to up my game?
2) Tactical tips on how to run the group
3) How masterminds are effective in reinforcing learning and adopting new behaviors.
4) How to deal with that pesky Imposter Syndrome
For more about Jenn, check out: https://www.themainidea.net/

Jul 9, 2020 • 41min
#93-Your budget=Your values with Chyla Graham
Join me and CPA Chyla Graham to talk about how to deal with your nonprofit budgeting and money management during this crazy time. Chyla drops a ton of value bombs like:
Why women of color may shy away from the finances.
How to train your board at the appropriate level of financial oversight.
Benefits of zero-based budgeting
How to align your budgets with the stuff you care about and value.
Chyla brings over a decade of experience as an auditor and CPA in the nonprofit sector to the conversation. She's also a trapeze artist!
For more about Chyla, check her out here: https://www.cnrgaccountingadvisory.com/
To download her board meeting dashboard, visit: https://www.cnrgaccountingadvisory.com/financialdashboard/
To download her cash flow projection tool, visit: https://cnrgaccountingadvisory.com/cashflow/

Jun 25, 2020 • 49min
#91-Talking about race with your board with Martha Haakmat
Oh, our boards. In this time of BLM and the broader conversations around racial equity, it can be hard to know where to begin with your board. Boards are often more conservative, wealthier and less diverse than our staff and clients so how do we get them on their DEI path? In this really important conversation with DEI consultant Martha Haakmat, we talk about
1) How to get boards to understand the continuum of DEI development and what that looks like on a policy and practice level.
2) Creating a DEI culture on the board through norms and recruitment.
3) Creating a sense of shared responsibility for DEI across board and staff.
To get in touch with Martha, check out: https://www.haakmatconsulting.com/
To get in touch with Morty Ballen for some free DEI support: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morty-ballen
List of resources that Martha recommends:
Benaji and Greenwald’s book called Blindspot (about implicit bias)
Dolly Chugh’s book called The Person You Mean To Be
Jennifer Eberhardt’s book called Biased
Ibram Kendi’s How To Be An Anti-Racist
Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility
Eloquent Rage - Brittney Cooper
Anything by Ta-nehisi Coates
Podcasts - Code Switch, Seeing White, Race Forward
Anti-racism Resources for White People: a compilation of resources for white people and parents to deepen our work in anti-racism
The rubric that she uses in work with leadership teams and Boards:
https://www.wpi.edu/sites/default/files/Project_Inclusion_NERCHE_Rubric-Self-Assessment-2016.pdf

Jun 18, 2020 • 45min
#90-PR and Thought Leadership for BIPOC with Vanessa Wakeman
Today my guest Vanessa Wakeman, founder of the Wakeman Agency, discusses PR in the nonprofit sector. Why do we need it and how do we demonstrate an ROI? We also discuss how to elevate the voices of women and folks of color as experts and thought leaders in the field. Vanessa shares a step by step playbook on how to be recognized for your ideas, how to show up as your whole self unapologetically and why she has dedicated herself to elevating the the profile of BIPOC in nonprofit.
For more about Vanessa, check out: https://www.thewakemanagency.com/vanessa-wakeman/
For more about She Roars, check out: https://www.thoughtleadershipforwomen.com/vanessa-wakeman

Jun 11, 2020 • 48min
#89-How to be a white ally with Karen Fleshman
In this tumultuous time, we are all asking ourselves what we can do to support racial justice and equity (and if you're not, why are you even listening to my podcast?). Join me and Karen Fleshman, founder of Racy Conversations, to learn about the history of white women's role in holding up white supremacy in America, how you can start to have hard conversations about race with white family and colleagues and what it would take for us to decolonize wealth. I invited Karen, who is a white woman, to talk about her work with white people about how to be "woke," which is not the burden of other people of color, specifically Black people, to take on.
For more about Karen, visit: http://racyconversations.com/
For resources that Karen mentions, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/white-people-how-show-up-rn-karen-fleshman-esq-she-her/

Jun 4, 2020 • 48min
#88-Political leadership and representation with Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou
Hot off the press! Join me and today's guest Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, New York State's ONLY Asian-American female Assemblymember representing Lower Manhattan (Lower East Side, Chinatown, Financial District, Battery Park and South Street Sea Port). In this conversation, we discuss the recent protests, how Asians can be allies to the Black community, what the impact of Asian under-representation is and how to shed the shame and silence in our community. This is an important and timely discussion for the moment we are in.
To support Yuh-Line's re-election campaign, visit: https://www.nioufornewyork.com/

May 28, 2020 • 55min
#87-Driving that Hustlebus with Kishshana Palmer and Brooke Richie-Babbage
In the midst of a pandemic, there has never been a better time to think about starting that side-hustle or that full-hustle. Join me, Kishshana and Brooke to talk about making the leap from nonprofit executives to small business owners. We talk about what is hard and what is joyful about owning your own business, how to feel the fear and do it anyway and how to stop comparing yourself to others. In this podcast, we share our hard-won wisdom about starting our own ventures. Some takeaways:
1) Build a community of accountability partners and friends who can support you.
2) Never stop learning.
3) But don't let procrasti-learning keep you from taking action.
4) If you're lazy about stuff you don't want to do, hire others to do it so you can focus on your Zone of Genius.
For more about Kishshana, visit: https://kishshanaco.com/
For more about Brooke, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooker1/


