Full Circle Moment: My Conversation with Joan Garry & Glennda Testone
What I Shared on the Nonprofits Are Messy Podcast About Leading a Small Nonprofit
Around four years ago, I was just trying to figure it all out.
I was brand new to nonprofit leadership, trying to build the Black and Brown Equity Coaltion (BaBEC) into something sustainable. Like many people in my position, I was looking for guidance—some kind of roadmap for growth in the nonprofit sector.
That’s when I found the Nonprofit Leadership Lab.
If you’ve ever led a nonprofit (or honestly, just tried to keep one afloat), you know it can incredibly isolating. Nonprofit Leadership Lab helped with that. It wasn’t just a place to learn best practices—it was a thriving community of nonprofit leaders who actually get it. Plus, it was run by Joan Garry, former Executive Director of GLAAD, and an LGBTQ+ nonprofit powerhouse I’ve admired for years.
When I joined the lab, I also started listening to Joan’s podcast, Nonprofits Are Messy, where she has candid conversations about the joys, chaos, and reality of nonprofit work.
I never imagined that four years later, I’d be a guest on it.
A Full-Circle Moment
This week, I had the incredible opportunity to be a guest on Nonprofits Are Messy alongside Joan and Glennda Testone, the former Executive Director of NYC’s LGBTQ+ Center. Glennda is someone I’ve long admired for her groundbreaking work in NYC’s LGBTQ+ nonprofit space.
We had an honest, real conversation about:
The highs and lows of running a small nonprofit.
Managing burnout
Why we do the work we do
The impact we expect the current political climate to have on advocacy work.
Joan and Glennda know what it means to lead, to fight, to hold space for people. Getting to converse with them and share my own insights, struggles, and wins was such an impactful and educational opportunity for me..
Take a Listen
If you’ve ever been curious about what nonprofit leadership actually looks like—beyond the glossy mission statements and into the real, messy, rewarding, exhausting work—this episode is for you.
🎙 Listen to my episode of Nonprofits Are Messy here or in most places where you get your podcasts.