Nonprofit Leadership and Innovation

The following guest column by Gulf Coast President|CEO Mark Pritchett appeared in the July 18 edition of SRQ Daily:

Leadership and innovation. Two words that can be overused and watered down in the nonprofit sector. But the massive challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have produced authentic, inspiring displays of both by our region’s nonprofit organizations. They deserve to be held up as examples worthy of following and of our gratitude.

Caring Decisively 

Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota County and SKY Family YMCA have remained on the front lines of our region’s response to COVID-19. Both agencies quickly innovated in the face of dire community need, providing safe childcare and meeting other essential needs for vulnerable families.

Boys and Girls Clubs CEO Bill Sadlo described his organization’s “extremely difficult” decision to reduce the number of children it could serve in its summer program in order to ensure that both children and staff remained safe and that care and enrichment was available to those who would benefit most—Title I students and children of first responders. Difficult decisions are the ones leaders must make, and hundreds of families are better off because Bill understands that.

Rising to the Challenge

All Faiths Food Bank has ramped up its food-distribution operations exponentially to meet ever-growing food insecurity in our region. It did so even as the pandemic hamstrung its ability to utilize three things it traditionally relied on—legions of volunteers, community-based food donations, and tried-and-true distribution models. By innovating quickly to meet increased need while mitigating increased risks, All Faiths reminded us why it’s the trusted hub of our community’s hunger-relief system.  

A key Food Bank partner, Meals on Wheels of Sarasota vastly increased its own output. MOW Sarasota kept just about all of its volunteers in action, with new safety protocols for both drivers’ and clients’ benefit. It increased delivery days and hours to meet growing need and expanded its service beyond warm meals to a range of other necessities. If a family needs diapers, for example, a note left on their door in the morning for a “first shift” volunteer to see results in a diaper delivery that afternoon by a second shift driver. The logistical innovations of these nonprofit agencies are impressive.

Read the rest of Mark's column in SRQ Daily