Two months after completing a graduate study on the organization, I was hired as a local affiliate Executive Director.What followed was seven years of doing the work from the inside out.

I directed all operations of a nonprofit providing shelter, meals, and supportive services to children and families experiencing homelessness, one of the most complex and heartbreaking challenges a community faces.

I led a team of eight employees, coordinated partnerships with twenty-six congregations representing multiple denominations, and worked alongside hundreds of volunteers who showed up week after week because they believed families deserved better.

The job was never just one job. On any given day I was managing the budget, securing and administering grant funding, preparing reports for funders and donors, overseeing staff training, maintaining compliance with grant requirements and applicable regulations, coordinating agency vehicles and operational resources, and standing in front of the Board of Directors with the kind of honest updates that required both courage and preparation.

I learned more in those seven years than I could have learned anywhere else. I learned that good intentions have to be backed by sound systems. That families in crisis deserve more than compassion; they deserve an organization strong enough to still be there tomorrow. And that the most important thing a leader can do is build something that does not fall apart the moment she steps away.