Ken Brissa of Phoenix Rescue Mission: 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Lead A Nonprofit Organization
Make it a priority to treat your employees and volunteers well. If you’re paying staff, pay them at a level so that they feel cared for while you find ways to show appreciation and encouragement. If you have the “we don’t pay well, we’re a nonprofit” mentality you’re not doing right by your employees. And most importantly say thank you often and genuinely to everyone involved in your cause.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ken Brissa.
Ken Brissa joined Phoenix Rescue Mission in February 2020 as an accomplished nonprofit and for-profit senior executive with more than 25 years of executive leadership, fundraising, budget and program management, and continuous improvement experience. He was one month into his role when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Brissa provided consistent leadership as the programs and services provided at the Mission quickly pivoted to stay active and increase their front-line services to those in need in the Valley. Ken is now excitedly leading the way as the Mission hones its strengths, expands the capacity of its programs, and develops quality partnerships to create even greater impact in the community.
Thank you so much for doing this with us. Before we begin our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”?
Sure — I spent the first two decades of my professional life in a corporate setting, mostly working in Quality Control, which is all about process improvement. I really loved what I did and I was really good at it, but I couldn’t get that excited about manufacturing stuff.
In the mid-nineties, my dad sent me an article that said Quality Control professionals of today will be the CEOs of tomorrow. That always stuck with me. Fast forward to 2006 when we moved to Arizona, and I saw a job posting for an executive director position at the ALS Association. Even though it was a nonprofit, the job description looked like it was written with me in mind. Long story short, I met with the board chair, she connected me with a couple of other board members, and I was offered the job. I haven’t looked back to the for-profit world since.
Can you tell us the story behind why you decided to start or join your non nonprofit?
In late 2019, a number of executives at the organization where I worked were notified that our positions would be eliminated in early 2020. My wife saw and sent me the job posting for CEO at Phoenix Rescue Mission. We were both familiar with the Mission, but we weren’t aware of the scope of impact it made in the community. When I saw that PRM was faith based and Christ centered I knew I had to throw my hat in the ring.
Can you describe how you or your organization aims to make a significant social impact?
At our heart we look to truly transform people’s lives. We operate two residential recovery centers, one for women and their children and the other for men. We give people an effective, life-changing path to recovery. We bring water, hygiene kits and clothes to people living on the streets and offer them case management services and a chance to be placed into housing or one of our residential programs. We also step in when a family is in need of food or when a person needs job skills, a GED or diploma. We are all about being a hand-up, not a handout.
Without saying any names, can you share a story about an individual who was helped by your idea so far?
There are countless stories I could share. One that comes to mind is how our street outreach team helped a man who was living on and off the streets for the past 15 years with a significant addiction. He slept in parks and streets with no home. One day, he crossed paths with a van full of men working in our Glendale Works program. He knew that the men were homeless like him, so he approached them to find out what they were doing. He then connected with one of our case workers and joined the program. We helped him start the hard work of getting clean and ultimately helped him become self-sufficient and get housing. Our team was with him when he got the key to his first apartment. There wasn’t a dry eye that day.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Our community and elected officials are very supportive of our work. We’re great at what we do and can do more of it, in more places, with more funding. I’d love to see us partner with other organizations and funding sources to help many more people. What’s really important to remember is that numbers are one thing, but behind those numbers are people and families in our community. As numbers and policies are looked at and debated, every person has a unique story and will require a unique solution.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
As leaders, it’s our responsibility to help our people become more marketable and promotable, either at our organization or somewhere else. While on one hand, it’s always hard to lose great people, we have to remember that someone likely helped us move on to another organization too and help us grow in our career. On the other hand, think of the benefit we have while that person is growing and succeeding while with us.
Based on your experience, what are the “5 things a person should know before they decide to start a nonprofit”. Please share a story or example for each.
It’s always, always about the relationship and not about the money. And to be clear, it’s about the relationship with the organization and cause. The relationship with you comes second. If the relationship is not with the organization and cause, donors will likely move on to another cause sooner than you think.
Go slow and do it right, especially when it comes to hiring staff and recruiting people for your board. Your mentality should be to hire for excellence; don’t make a bad hiring decision because you’re super busy and have an open headcount. Also, surround yourself with people who are not the same as you. You can’t be an expert in everything, so learn from other experts and bring in people who will compliment your skill set.
Don’t be afraid to “torture” an idea, meaning pick it apart and challenge yourself to come up with what could go wrong and what you’d do if it did. The days of the highest square on the org chart making all the decisions are gone. All of us are smarter than one of us.
Make it a priority to treat your employees and volunteers well. If you’re paying staff, pay them at a level so that they feel cared for while you find ways to show appreciation and encouragement. If you have the “we don’t pay well, we’re a nonprofit” mentality you’re not doing right by your employees. And most importantly say thank you often and genuinely to everyone involved in your cause.
Be transparent. Tell your staff, volunteers, and donors what they need to know when they need to know it. Constantly ask yourself, “Who needs to know what I know, or what I just heard?” and be sure to deliver the message. Poor communication is poison to any initiative, culture, or organization.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world who you would like to talk to, to share the idea behind your nonprofit? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I recently saw something that Cher Wang, the founder of the HTC Corporation said. She said, “As entrepreneurs, we must continue to ask ourselves ‘What’s next?’ It takes humility to realize that we don’t know everything, not to rest on our laurels and know that we must keep learning and observing.” That’s so in line with our Mission. We’re always looking at ways to partner with other organizations, always asking ourselves, “What’s next?”. We’re passionate when it comes to helping the hurting souls in the Valley. I think Cher Wang would like to be a part of what we do.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson” Quote? How is that relevant to you in your life?
Albert Einstein once said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” From a very young age, I’ve had a heart for helping others. To think that I’ve been doing that for a living for the last fifteen years is such an incredible blessing. And now at Phoenix Rescue Mission I see so many of the people who were in our recovery program, or were helped in some other way, now giving back themselves, paying forward what was done for them. That’s an amazing thing to be a part of.
How can our readers follow you online?
The best place to find me online is on LinkedIn. That’s where I share content and interact the most. You can also follow Phoenix Rescue Mission on all the major social media platforms @phxmission or go to phoenixrescuemission.org.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your mission.
Thanks for having me and for the opportunity to tell a little bit about me and Phoenix Rescue Mission and the exciting things we’re doing here in the Valley.
Ken Brissa of Phoenix Rescue Mission: 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Lead A Nonprofit… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.