What a Communications Outreach Director at Lumina Alliance Wishes They Had Known Before Entering Nonprofit Work
Clementine, a Director of Communications and Outreach, lacking a communications background, discovered that the common misconception of nonprofits creating only "small scale" change is inaccurate; the impact of nonprofit work, particularly "insights and input as people that work directly with survivors," significantly influences policymakers, proving that "you can do both those things at once."
Nonprofit Leadership, Systems Change, Policy Impact, Communications in Nonprofits, Direct Service vs. Systemic Change
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Clementine Ellis
Director of Communications and Outreach
Lumina Alliance
Agnes Scott College
University of Florida, MA, Sociology
Anthropology, Sociology
Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Communication and Marketing
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, LGBTQ
Video Highlights
1. Nonprofits can affect large-scale systematic change and policy, contrary to the belief that their work is only small-scale and helpful but not world-changing.
2. The idea that direct service and large-scale systematic change are mutually exclusive is incorrect; they can be done simultaneously.
3. Lawmakers and policymakers are responsive to nonprofits' insights and input, particularly from those working directly with affected populations (e.g., survivors).
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone would have told you before you entered the industry?
I don't have a communications background, so I wasn't told much about this industry before I got into it. I kind of learned by doing.
Something I was told about the nature of nonprofits, especially in academia, was that there's this idea that nonprofits and the people who work in them aren't able to create systemic, widespread change. It's the idea that what they do is small-scale, helpful, but it's not going to change the world or our systems.
I have not found that to be the case at all. I've found that lawmakers and policymakers are very responsive to things that nonprofits have to say, and our insights and input as people who work directly with survivors.
So, I think the idea that you can either be in direct service or be creating widespread, systematic change – the idea that those things are separate – is actually incorrect. It is not what I've found. You can do both of those things at once. It's not easy, but it is possible.
I would really dissuade anyone who thinks that nonprofits are small-scale from that line of thinking.