Connecting the Cause

02/24/2022

"I believe it’s high time we start appreciating Black communities in philanthropic spaces based on their innate dignity and worth and not just the achievements marked as "success stories."

Grateful to share this piece of heart work I wrote for the Points of Light learning community. Read more here:

Black History Month is upon us, and I am going to cut right to the chase. I believe it’s high time we start appreciating Black communities in philanthropic spaces based on their innate dignity and worth and not just the achievements marked as "success stories.”

08/13/2021

In The Renewed Community, we're diving into how supremacy culture infiltrates and props up so many aspects of volunteerism. We are diving into the characteristics and learning to identify and uproot them in ourselves and in the spaces we serve.

This is a training I'm hosting in the community and I'm opening it up to everyone who would like to take part. Renewed members, this is a part of your membership. For non-members, click on the link in the bio to register. This is for any volunteer managers, consultants, nonprofit EDs, community leaders, volunteers or anyone who wants to learn more.

DM me with any questions. I'm available to answer them for the next couple of hours.

Please share with your networks, friends, colleagues, anyone that could benefit from this. See you there! https://www.connectingthecause.com/new-products/perfectionism

07/24/2021

This week I've been working on calling in my community so that I can get the love, the breaks, the downtime I need to keep it together.

Because sometimes self care is laying on your mama's lap...

It's a walk with your bestie....

It's friends coming over to do your laundry and watch your baby!

Do you have a community to call on?

Do you need to call in community or be sent out to hold someone up?

07/09/2021

4 things I've learned over the past couple of weeks:

1) As much as I say opinions don't affect me, they still do. It's like this, you think you get completely free of something, but in all actuality you are free of a LAYER of it in a particular season. In another way, shape or form it can come back up, and you feel like you never progressed. Not true. You've just entered into another layer of growth that requires a deeper understanding of that thing as an evolving person. So yeah I'm re-examining the ways opinions matter in this season of my life.

2) Some people want to connect to cheer for my journey, to support , or to vibe with a kindred spirit. Others just want to extract 🤷🏾‍♀️ I'm getting more keen on learning the difference and how to handle it when it comes.

3) It's necessary for me to look back and take assessment of where I used to be and where I am now, and know that my growth should never be compared or contingent on something outside of myself. I set my pace. I set my rhythm.

4) Showing up for Black nonprofit/mutual aid/community peeps gives me joy.

What's something life taught you recently? Any of these resonate with you?

04/29/2021

Yes, and.

04/29/2021

When we are propelled to serve for a good time, when that good time is up, we disconnect. We get unfocused. This has to be for the long haul, and it starts with recognizing the ways you've been transactional.

04/09/2021

Who needs to widdle down those volunteer opportunities?

Because you've made opportunity accommodations that are now a part of your regular volunteer program....

Because you've drifted and have become more focused on the number of volunteers you can get through the door and less on how impactful they are going to actually be.

Let's reassess and reset.

02/17/2021

Can anyone relate? I'm all for corporate social responsibility but when are we going to stop being afraid of stepping on toes and telling corporate groups real actions they can do to support community? In my experience they are the ones that drive the time, the date, the activity because nonprofits are doing their absolute best accommodate in order to get that check. #1 all money ain't good money #2 stop making volunteer managers broker these groups , and #3 volunteer managers, stand up and say that they are not effective if they aren't! The real hurt happens to the communities they transactionally serve.

01/26/2021

Sometimes I get iffy with podcasts and lives because you can't take stuff back. But here, I was real, honest, and laid it all out. Thank you for being a conduit to share the message of the real work of partnership. Grateful 🙏🏾

From The Do Good Project: Race and Saviorism in the Nonprofit Space - EPISODE 10 out today!!

Breauna Dorelus has felt and witnessed the disconnections and harmful practices that service can ensue. After working in the nonprofit sector, as a black female leader, Breauna decided she needed to step up and help educate others on this topic.

She set up a for-profit consulting agency to assist nonprofit leaders and volunteers to check intentions and the way in which they serve. Her goal is to bring about best outcomes for those being served.

This episode highlights how Breauna’s business, Connecting the Cause, is bringing about much needed change in how the world views and provides help to our neighbors in need.

01/11/2021

MLK Day of Service is coming up and there will be thousands of individuals descending on organizations and communities to lend a hand and serve.

Nonprofits, you have a responsibility to be an advocate for those you serve! Tell volunteers the truth for why they're there.

Volunteers, you have a responsibility to confront the messiness in your heart so that you can show up with the posture of learning and growing and not one of power and pity.