I’ve started a podcast! The Nova Communities Podcast is your resource for tips, tools, and insights for associations, user groups, and nonprofits. In my first episode, I share the vision and goals for the podcast as well as more about who I am and my heart for volunteer-driven organizations.

What started from my own volunteer experience has grown into a love of working alongside people, inspiring passion and positive action. For me, it truly began in 2005 when my Grampa was diagnosed with mesothelioma. At the time, I was in the middle of going to school to become a teacher, to make a difference in the lives of students. After his diagnosis, I began volunteering with the American Cancer Society. There, a community manager acted as my mentor and I realized I could make a major difference in a unique way – by working in the nonprofit sector for my career.

After I graduated, I worked for two years at ACS before trying a new adventure. When Port-au-Prince, Haiti was hit by the earthquake in 2010, my Gramma donated a van to missionaries driving back and forth between the Dominican Republic and Haiti doing disaster relief. Once they named the van Floyd in memory of my Grampa, I knew I had to be a part of it. My role became managing the development of a model community for displaced families through project and resource management and building relationships to collaborate with other organizations.

In Haiti, days feel like weeks and weeks feel like months because of the severe conditions. The lack of resources takes a toll on you daily as you see the harsh reality the people there face. With so much happening, it was hard to keep up. That adventure is still one of the highlights of my life, but as you know – the nonprofit world can take a toll. When the project finished, I was physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted.

From Haiti, I moved to Chicago to work for an association management company. My clients were technology user groups and healthcare associations. I was fortunate to travel the world with coworkers who are still friends today. For five years we built relationships and communities, developed programs, and managed events around the globe.

I knew I wanted more and that’s when Nova Strategies was born. I’ve seen firsthand how shared experience has the potential to inspire passion and positive action.

And that, my friends, is exactly what I hope this podcast will do for you too.

I want it to be a place where we can continue to dream big on how our organizations impact our communities, industries – and even the world. I’m here to serve you so you can best serve your stakeholders – however you define them.

We all want to make a difference in this world. I want to empower you to lead and embrace solutions to your toughest questions. Over the course of this season, you’ll hear from industry leaders and our peers on hot topics including Board Governance, Member Engagement, Planning of Events, and Volunteer Leadership Development. These stories will help us evaluate the organizations we serve and how we can maximize our impact and build on our momentum.

So what are the goals for this podcast?

1. To create a space where my listeners can get to know industry influencers and share best practices
2. To provide resources to maximize the impact of your work

 

I want the content here to help you enhance the value you bring to those you serve. By breaking things down step by step, I hope you walk away from each episode feeling empowered to take action – that you can conquer uncertainty and boldly inspire others to work alongside you in a genuine way – that also converts.

Episodes will be released each Wednesday and will be 20-30 minutes in length. Occasionally, you will see a bonus episode where we drop some Nova Knowledge. These mini-episodes will be a quick tip you can implement to have an immediate impact.

I hope you are as excited as I am to take this journey together. What guests and topics would you like me to cover first?