{"id":3154,"date":"2015-10-22T16:30:23","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T20:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/?p=3154"},"modified":"2015-10-20T16:37:52","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T20:37:52","slug":"the-career-path-of-a-nonprofit-generalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/2015\/10\/the-career-path-of-a-nonprofit-generalist\/","title":{"rendered":"The Career Path of a Nonprofit Generalist"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"CC<\/a>

CC Scott Smithson via Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

About a year ago, I was accepted into the Chief Executive Program at National Arts Strategies. This particular cohort is focused on leaders using cultural organizations to change\/alter\/improve community. Unlike the prior cohorts, this third cohort is heavily populated with founders \u2013 creatives that saw an unmet need in their communities and started a new organization to address the gaps. They are artists and activists following their passions.<\/p>\n

I was three months into my new position as CEO of a mid-size arts\/youth development organization when we convened as a group for the first time. It was thrilling to be around these passionate change-makers, but also jarring as my background is so very different. Unlike these passionate creatives that are driven by their specific vision, I consider myself a generalist. Rather than a passion for a particular art form and how it can affect a community, I am passionate about nonprofits, how they run, how they change lives, and how they can better integrate into communities to drive change.<\/p>\n

My generalist background includes work for a government arts agency, two theater companies, a community health department, a business school, and a youth development\/social service agency. I\u2019ve worked in programs, fundraising, events, education, communications, community relations, and general management. Each of these different organizations or departments was a chance to try something new, to build a new skill. I love to solve problems. I am good at fixing things. I am always up for a challenge.<\/p>\n

In looking at the next generation of nonprofit leaders, I am excited by a group of people who can take on any vision, any challenge, any mission and make it excellent. Our sector needs those that are passionate about making a difference, no matter what it is. These are the generalists. Whether it is arts, social service, the environment \u2013 fundraising, programs, marketing \u2013 we can apply our diverse experience and take it to the next level. Our communities need us.
\n 
\n 
\n\"Tweet:The<\/a>
\nClick on the Twitter logo to share this post. Start a conversation.
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About a year ago, I was accepted into the Chief Executive Program at National Arts Strategies. This particular cohort is focused on leaders using cultural organizations to change\/alter\/improve community. Unlike the prior cohorts, this third cohort is heavily populated with founders \u2013 creatives that saw an unmet need in their communities and started a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":3155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,23],"tags":[623,629,207],"coauthors":[652],"class_list":{"0":"post-3154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conversation","8":"category-stories-from-the-field","9":"tag-career-paths","10":"tag-career-planning","11":"tag-leadership-development","12":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3154"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3157,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154\/revisions\/3157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3154"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}