I approach the one year mark of my tenure as Director of Philanthropy at Breakthrough Central Texas with a sense of awe. I can’t help wondering, “Has it only been one year?”
This incongruous sense of time passing, I believe, serves to underscore for me just how much I’ve grown this year. As a mother of three almost-grown kids I have my own perspective into the variability of time passing. I’ve seen my children on the precipice of coming into their own. It’s at the edges of waiting for life to happen that time seems to slow its cadence. When you know more fully who you are and you feel confident in what you can do, I believe it is only then that time begins to accelerate. One year truly contains multitudes.
The work, for me, is the easy part. While still on-boarding, learning new systems, org culture, ways of working norms and my specific role, I eagerly embraced opportunities, contributing and leading initiatives. Among the more notable deliverables, just months into my tenure, I owned the project management of several key stewardship pieces – the annual college graduation yearbook and the final campaign report for the Champions campaign that ended in FY 23. I also developed the initial draft for the next, even more ambitious campaign case statement encompassing vision, initial messaging, and a blueprint for structural and visual imagery concepts. This document was designed to be the key tool for engagement with current campaign committee members, longstanding donors, new members, foundations, and prospect donors to the campaign.
As I became more comfortable in my role and enjoyed meaningful relationships with program partners and long time volunteers and donors, I began to bring more of my perspective and marketing lens to the work. Most notably in the early phases of gearing up for the next comprehensive growth campaign, I led the development of branded events and creation of new stewardship tools. Additionally, my comfort with systems and processes enabled me to look at existing platforms and processes with a strategic lens designed to accelerate the work.
While the work part has been relatively easy, the hard, growth edge has been learning to put pride and ego aside in order to accept the diversity and opinions of many voices. Leaning into the very real collaborative process that is very much a Breakthrough core way of working is essential. I believe this collaborative ethos to be one of the superpowers for this incredible organization. And norming to this way or working, has not been easy.
Breakthrough Central Texas stands apart as a leader among nonprofits in the education space. It is an honor and privilege to do this work. While I am starting to trust that my work is not being judged as “less than” when others see a different possibility, it’s still a conscious effort on my part to stay with the process. Objectively I have seen how much better we can be when we are able to create together.
I look forward to continuing to grow into my role as director of philanthropy. I endeavor to become a meaningful part of its culture that leads with true humility in its path breaking vision to create educational equity. As my experience has shown, being able to work as a team and put ego aside, I can become a better version of myself. A year indeed, contains multitudes.
We're Pivoting 