Wendie Veloz Enterprises

Wendie Veloz Enterprises Wendie is an executive and lifestyle coach entrepreneur with a socially conscious mission.

Wendie helps social businesses and non-profits plan, scale, and access funding.

08/27/2026

It's been a quiet week on social media but a busy week for team WVE!

We've been deep in client chats, building boxes of joy, and stocking up on supplies for the Systems Thinking Systems Changing simulation this week with Nonprofit Montgomery.

Cairn Guidance (Jess Lawerence) and I are facilitating this packed and powerhouse audience of nonprofit and local government leaders from across Montgomery County.

We'll be getting deep into how change happens, how to create the right conditions for change, and what leaders do to create environments ripe for meaningful change. Plus, a bonus- how these organizations can work together to create change across systems and partnership networks. 🔥 🔥 🔥

This work is truly epic, groundbreaking, and humbling. I'm so thankful for Wendie Veloz Enterprises, LLC to be a catalyst for change and connecting so many different parts of my network from across the nation to make this event happen.

So glad Hilary Schwab and James Bonato will be along to document the day for us! Thank you friends for stepping up so quickly to hop on board.

Thanks to my team- Jenna Boig, JR Watson, Greg Buckler, Michelle Resig for all the prep and pre-work/training!

I hope you'll stick around and see how it goes, this is a short sneak peek BTS this week getting things together. Plus my puppy Buttercup for moral support. (Talk about resistance to change!)

Anyone else feeling like this trying to grow your business? This week I had the best time at the Montgomery County Fair ...
08/22/2026

Anyone else feeling like this trying to grow your business?

This week I had the best time at the Montgomery County Fair watching Monster Trucks break themselves.

The drivers were so confident that even when his wheel fell off, the dump truck drove off with three wheels.

I'm not sure who in my business network feels like you'r driving with three wheels trying to grow, scale, and mange it all.

I'm sure you also made this face along the way. My personal favorite face captured in 2026.

If you can relate, give us a shout in the comments.

08/21/2026

Another grant may buy you time. However, a sustainable funding model is a game-changer.

When your organization is moving from grant to grant, it’s easy to think the next grant award will kick the can down the road long enough for you to solve the problem. Or long enough for another grant to come and take over.

But this feeling is telling you that the larger system is not sustainable and your organization will eventually feel the same pressure again and gain.

When you start to ask your team the same questions we walk clients through- you'll see how outcomes and buy-in shifts.

- What are we actually trying to sustain? (We is intentional here, so the team is part of the decision to move forward in a new direction)
- What will it require in money, people, time, partnerships, and leadership energy? (If you can't use these resources to fuel your next chapter, you're sunk)
- What funding mix fits our mission and real capacity? (Diversifying means more than one!)

Rebuilding your funding model takes time and thoughtful dialogue.

Choose one important program and use these questions to start the conversation with your team.

Which program will you start with?

Connecting the dots is where transformation happens.Kayla and Patrice of Ride MoCo started coaching 8 months ago thinkin...
08/20/2026

Connecting the dots is where transformation happens.

Kayla and Patrice of Ride MoCo started coaching 8 months ago thinking about starting their first programming for Rooted in Unity.

Through an Idea Surgery™️ session we identified their goal- to connect people with the healing power of horses- through awareness raising at events and programming for organizations.

Continuing to support them through the Montgomery County Black Collective's Amber Program coaching was such a joy.

Seeing how much growth they've made in a short time- refining their event ideas and creating a sustainable marketing strategy to grow upon.

If you've ever been near a horse and wondered how you might get to ride one- check out an upcoming Coffee with a Horse this Fall.

This is a wonderful family-friendly event to enjoy in Montgomery County this season, hope you come support this fantastic local nonprofit.

Sponsorship opportunities- send an email!

08/19/2026

Let’s normalize Super humans getting support too.

Whether you lead a nonprofit or a social business, there may have been a season when stepping into every gap helped you launch, grow, or get through a difficult period.

For some of us, that might also be a trauma response.

If you grew up in an under resourced community (like I did), taking on everything can become the permanent operating model. A way to “get out” or “move up”

What that means as a leader is you have to show up extra resilient, even when you’re operating at ZERO.

Eventually, your organization’s capacity becomes tied to how much more you can personally absorb or push out.

The goal is never to do less.

But sometimes, in order to go forward you need to pause and remember YOU ARE SAFE.

You don’t need to show up resilient every day. Carrying everything isn’t the only tactic to reach the goal.

Sometimes building something sustainable starts with the belief that you can.

08/17/2026

If your job description turned into five jobs, you don't have a time-management problem... you have a capacity problem.

When you're in growth-mode, carrying multiple roles can feel like leadership.

Strategy isn't enough. Hiring isn't enough. If you keep playing every important role in the organization- growth is impossible.

The first sign of trouble is when the executive director, founder, or CEO becomes the organization’s fundraiser, HR department, operations team, program strategist, and final stop for every decision.

You'll start to see these tell-tale signs:

- Decisions pile up because everything requires your input.
- Staff wait for answers only you can provide.
- Strategic work gets pushed behind daily emergencies.
- Important work happens at night or on weekends.

This does not mean you are failing as a leader!

These signs mean the organization’s structure has not caught up with the work you are trying to accomplish.

When I work with clients who find themselves at this critical juncture, we stop and take decisive actions that will redirect the organization's energy. These essential steps create a path where growth becomes possible again.

Step 1. Compare the official organizational chart with the work people are actually doing.
Step 2. Identify the responsibilities that genuinely require executive leadership.
Step 3. Name the work that should be delegated, delayed, automated, eliminated, or properly resourced.
Step 4. Review whether staff have the time, authority, skills, and full-time-equivalent capacity their roles require.
Step 5. Engage HR or an organizational-development professional when responsibilities, classifications, or staffing structures need to be redesigned.

Sometimes sustainability looks like working yourself out of a job. Ensuring things can go on smoothly without you.

This is your sign to stop doing 5 jobs.

Tamari and I first connected through a coaching program in Winter 2024. She asked to continue the work because she knew ...
08/13/2026

Tamari and I first connected through a coaching program in Winter 2024. She asked to continue the work because she knew her nonprofit needed more than ideas. Two years later, we’re still at it but much has changed.

When we started, she had a strong vision but needed the next steps and structure. Together, we worked through my Idea Surgery strategic planning methodology to define the best approach to building the foundational programs- Sharing Swahili culture, language, and food.

That early planning became the foundation which helped us get back to work after Tamari came back to focusing on her nonprofit following a brief sabbatical. Luckily, we didn’t have to start over.

We had already done the strategic work and she was able to pick up right where we left off. We reconnected with her vision, set out to form new partnerships, and identified steps to solidify her programs with more clarity and confidence.

Good strategic planning should do exactly this.

It should not sit in a folder waiting for someone to “get back to it” or “make it happen.”

It should give you something strong enough to keep the wheels moving, even when life be lifing.

Every early-stage strategic plan should help you answer…

- What are we building?
- What needs to happen next?
- Who do we need to partner with?
- What programs are ready to be strengthened?
- What decisions can we make now to move with more confidence?

Tamari’s progress is a reminder that strategy is not just about planning for the moment you are in. It is about creating a foundation you can come back to when you are ready for the next level.

If your organization has a vision but needs help turning it into a roadmap you can actually use, WVE’s coaching and consulting services are just a DM away.

AI has changed the grant writing landscape. When people think it's better to produce more, it's nice to meet someone who...
08/12/2026

AI has changed the grant writing landscape. When people think it's better to produce more, it's nice to meet someone who focuses on what the client needs.

The truth is, grant writing has always been a numbers game. One year I led a grant national competition that yielded hundreds of applications. That's typical for funders every year. Especially with the limited funding we're experiencing at the present moment.

But this year was different- we got 4 of the same application from 4 different communities.

How?

Well... one unscrupulous grant writer decided to rubber stamp and sell his grant application to different communities across the country. I'm not even sure if they ever knew they were rejected because they had the same application as someone else.

This story reminds me of the conversation I recently had with Daphney Jean- founder of SMJ Grant Consulting. Daphney shared how difficult it is for clients to show up "grant ready" when their "back end" is out of order.

We dug into the pitfalls of funding - like how going from grant to grant is a vicious cycle trapping our clients in insecure positions.

However, the light at the end of the tunnel for us both is helping our clients understand the best ways to go beyond being "grant ready" and looking at real scalable solutions.

If you're looking for a grant writer to augment your team- check out SMJ Grant Consulting's services. I'm sure you'll love Daphney's perspectives on funding too!

08/11/2026

Six months ago, I started coaching an organization that moves fast. From Grass to Grace was already doing meaningful work, creating entrepreneurship pathways for community members who were formerly incarcerated.

Like many growing nonprofits, the team’s vision was strong, but funding was not keeping pace with programming. They needed space to step back and better understand how to maximize the partnerships, model, and assets they had already built so they could scale beyond Montgomery County and serve more communities across Maryland.

Board member Tim Cragette described one of the team’s biggest realizations during the Scale + Sustain program, which WVE implemented in partnership with the Montgomery County Black Collective and with support from county government:

“We can cause impact with what we do. But there’s so many more things we can do.”

The turning point came when the team assessed what they already had, what their messaging needed to communicate, and what foundation was needed for sustainable growth.

As Tim put it:

“We just needed to have a better understanding of our capabilities in our team, in our focus, our communication, our tools, all the things.”

The transformation was not about creating a longer list of to-dos. It was about using existing resources more intentionally and continuing to improve from a stronger foundation.

➡️ “How to be the best with what you have, and how to continuously improve by building a better foundational structure.”

That’s why Scale + Sustain creates results where other programs fall short.

đź’­ Before your organization adds another program, tool, or position, start with three questions:

1. What do we already have?
2. What is not working as well as it could?
3. What foundation must we strengthen before we grow?

If your leadership team needs guidance answering those questions, explore executive and team coaching with WVE. Reach out.

Thanks to Tim and all of our graduates for this amazing feedback:

“This program with Wendie and her team is top notch. It is world class.”



Every grant has an end date. The work doesn't stop.As a Federal Project Officer, I saw it over and over: 90 days before ...
08/10/2026

Every grant has an end date. The work doesn't stop.

As a Federal Project Officer, I saw it over and over: 90 days before funding ends, leaders are scrambling to protect what they built. The people doing the work. The programs communities depend on. The trust the organization earned. And the mission that made them apply in the first place.

The worst part was seeing how PEOPLE are affected by poor planning at the end of a grant.

Staff wonder if their positions will continue. Programs get cut or scaled back. Community partners wonder who to call, or if anyone will still be there. Month after month, leaders told me they were pulled in a million directions, stretching already MAXXED resources thin, and creating chaos for the very people meant to receive services.

But the funding cliff doesn't have to be the end of the story.

Now, when I work with nonprofits, I see the moment the mindset shifts. It's when "How do we replace this grant?" turns into "What are we committed to sustaining? What resources will it actually require? Who needs to stay to make that happen?"

If you've been here before, you know sustainability planning usually starts way too late. And the last 90 days before funding ends is way too late.

Break the grant to grant cycle and take the next step:

Choose one active grant and schedule a funding-transition conversation before the final 90 days. Invite the whole team and focus on five questions:

1. What work must be protected?
2. What may need to pause, change, or end?
3. Who will own the transition, and have they agreed to lead?
4. What needs to be communicated, and when?
5. What resources will carry the work forward, and how will you access them?

You don't need every answer today. You need to begin the conversation before urgency starts making decisions for you.

Save this post, choose one grant, and put that conversation on the calendar. If you need help, reach out.

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910 Clopper Rd, Ste 205N
Gaithersburg, MD
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