One of the most fun parts about traveling, for me, is learning about other nations’ image of the United States. They range from the amusing (nobody uses plastic bags for grocery shopping, only blank brown paper bags) to the alarming (nearly everybody in Texas walks around with a gun in his or her back pocket).… Continue reading Redefining American Power
Category: THOUGHTS FROM THE TEAM
Boston is not Powerless
Everyone in Boston feels pretty powerless right now. We are stuck inside our homes. We can’t take the T. We can’t go to work. We can’t get a coffee. We don’t know if we are safe. As the Boston manager of anĀ organizationĀ that specializes in empowering the powerless, I have a few thoughts about our powerlessness… Continue reading Boston is not Powerless
It’s Up to Us to Save Congress
Being the Executive Director of a non-profit that prides itself of non-partisanship, I take care to never be overtly partisan or political in public spaces, like this blog.Ā But I am pretty pissed off about Congress voting down the gun control bill.Ā And, actually, I think it is completely a non-partisan issue.Ā Universal background checks… Continue reading It’s Up to Us to Save Congress
Disparate Leadership
Disparate Leadership A few weeks ago, at a conference for Draper Richards Kaplan Fellows, we were asked to define our own leadership styles.Ā We were then told that if we really wanted to know what we were like as leaders, we should ask our employees, who would have a better sense of our strengths and… Continue reading Disparate Leadership
The Introverted Leader
As the Executive Director of a non-profit, I spend most of my days with my āgame-faceā on. I manage, and attempt to motivate, our team, I attempt to impress potential donors, I give speeches. I smile, I laugh, I engage. And then, at the end of the day, Iām utterly exhausted, and thereās nothing that… Continue reading The Introverted Leader
What Stresses You Out?
I think that my job is stressful.Ā And I think that too many social entrepreneurs are not honest and open about how this stress manifests itself.Ā For a variety of reasons, the āmyth of the social entrepreneurā has emerged, tying itself essentially to the passionate, incredibly hard-working, charismatic individual that will do whatever they can… Continue reading What Stresses You Out?
Talking About Money
When I first started Generation Citizen, as a senior at Brown, my primary concern with making it a full-fledged non-profit was fundraising- I had no idea how to do it, and the concept seemed terrifying to me, especially in the midst of the financial collapse.Ā The only reason that GC got off the ground (and… Continue reading Talking About Money