nonprofit

  • To Serve, Not to Achieve

    I was chatting with a friend about career and prestige.

    We moved on to talk about time, or rather, the lack thereof.
    Then he asked me, "How does your non-profit involvement help you achieve your goals?"
    It was a very foreign question.
    There's no 'personal goal' to this.
    It's simply a service, not a path to an achievement.

  • What Am I Going to Do With My Free Time?

    I told PUYOers I will stop calling meetings after our September elections meeting.

    I'm stepping down, completely.
    Every type of organization, at every stage, needs a different type of leader. I'm no longer the right type of leader for PUYO. I recognize that, so I'm stepping down.
    I will forever love PUYO. The people are solid.
    Things have started to wind down. And it's scary to think that I'd be as free as I'd be.
    Here' my Calendar last month, excluding my vacation week, it was a very typical month.
    July Calendar

    I took a look at my calendar for September. It is eerily quiet.

    September Calendar

    I feel a levitating sense of emptiness. 
    A little scared about the alone times. A little excited about what I could potentially make out of the extra hours.
    I did say several years ago, I want to do a little more frontline volunteer work when I get a break from nonprofit planning.
    In addition to visiting John every week, I've signed up to be an Art Buddy.
    Once a month, I will do art with a small group of young adults with developmental disabilities. 
    I'm not particularly artistic, but I'm excited about this program.
    I think I'd enjoy the art sessions for the art itself. Also, working alongside these young adults makes me happy. 
    People with developmental disabilities are actually some of the happiest people I've ever met. Some of them laugh so easily. They are like kids without the bratty-ness and the ego. 
    They remind me how happiness could be so simple and I should be content with my life.
    Here's the Art Program curriculum. Canvas, acrylic paint, food art, clay sculptures....  joy!

  • Agitation

    It's Thursday July 11, the night before Night It Up! 

    PUYOers are on site setting up.
    I am locked behind the computer trying to close a project or else I cannot leave for the weekend.
    This. Is. So. Painful.
    I rarely say this about work. But this is one of those rare moments that I do not want to be working.
    May I finish this damn thing in time so that I can get on site at a decent hour tomorrow.
    So agitated

  • I'm Pulling A Second Harvest Truck!

    Hi Friends,

    I'm pulling a truck!

    On July 14, I will be pulling a truck in support of Second Harvest, a charity that collects good food from grocery retailers and redistribute these food to people in need.

    Second Harvest is Power Unit Youth Organization's (PUYO) beneficiary for 2013. If you don't already know, I've been involved with PUYO for over a decade. So whenever you ask me, "How was your weekend?" and I respond with a "Did nonprofit stuff" - this is it.

    I'm pulling a truck for two reasons:

    • PUYO Beneficiary Team has worked hard to put this initiative together, I want to support them.
    • Having to beg for food is not easy. A dollar or two won’t hurt most of us. But, it could make a difference to some people.

     

    A long time ago, an acquaintance told me he once got hogdog-robbed. A vagabond ran away with my friend's hotdog while my friend was strolling down the street. The topic came up because we were waiting for our hotdogs. It was supposed to be a funny story but it made me sad. To take such a high risk for something as small as a hotdog, the vagabond must be really hungry.

    You can read more about where I stand on this topic here:

    How Should I React to Panhandlers

    If you do donate, thank you :)

    If you don’t donate, thank you too, you made it this far :)

    Link to my fundraising page, click 'Sponsor Me' to donate:

    Ling Chung Pulls A Truck For Second Harvest

    Thanks again! 

    Ling

     

  • Organization With A Heart

    With PUYO, I admit, sometimes I get caught up.

    • Are action items from meetings completed?
    • How are our leads and execs doing? Are they disgruntled? Will they quit?
    • How are the actuals rolling in against our budgets? Will we break even?
    Yet, the highlight of my PUYO year last year, had nothing to with the tacticals. 
    The highlight was when these photographs came through my inbox.
     
     
    We sent Justin and his family to Disney World! 
    (Read more about Justin's wishes here)
    I told myself, "Ling, remember this feeling. Don't forget, this is why you do what you do."
    ---------
    Elain, a wonderful classmate of mine organized a charity event "Mark My Heartprint" in Hong Kong last summer.
    It was beautiful watching volunteers, caregivers and people with developmental disabilities come together.
    Absolutely beautiful.
    ---------
    Elain's Mark My Heartprint event was an inspiration.
    PUYO can do so much more than simply cutting a cheque to its beneficiary. 
    We often get lost in our planning chaos. In the process, we get caught up with delivering the projects, but we forget why we do what we do.
    With this year's Paint-A-Thon, we hope to work more closely with our beneficiary. 
    We want PUYOers to engage with our cause directly, not through any secondary medium.
    When we talked about our initial plan, many PUYOers became excited. Some PUYOers even came out of retirement to work on the expanded programming.
    This tells me, PUYOers' hearts are in the right place - this is very reassuring.
    As our projects become more complex, we get lost in administration.
    PUYOers, each of you, are in PUYO for a different reason. 
    Of our three values (youth development, empowerment and philanthropy), philanthropy is the one we're collectively the most disengaged from.
    Let's bring the heart back into PUYO.
    One day, first generation PUYOers will retire. 
    I hope, what we leave you with, is not just an organization with projects, but an organization with a heart.

  • Why It's Important to Check Things Against Your Life Mission

    Because you may find that, like me, you're placing energy on the wrong priorities.
    ---------

    I fall into cyclical slumps.

    What have I done with my life? Why haven't I achieve more? Why are things still status quo?
    The pattern is uncanny: it's always achievement-oriented.
    A good friend asked me the other day. 
    "What is your life mission?"
    I responded:
    • To be happy
    • To be a person with good character
    • To make a difference in the world by helping people
    • To be the best that I can possibly be
    Then he asked me, "Where does accomplishment fit in?"
    The question stumped me. It doesn't.
    I spend significant time chasing accomplishments. Yet, I definitely wouldn't call 'accomplishment' a life mission.
    Why do I need societal definitions of success - a prestigious education, a sought-after job or a coveted award - to fulfill my life missions?
    I don't deny, whenever I fall into slump mode, the trigger is usually a recent lack of achievements.
    This life mission question my friend asked me really helped me screw my head back on straight.
    In one of the things I was working on, I did not like the fact that a superstar was outperforming me. I wanted to be the number one golden child like I had always been.
    But, this is absolutely stupid. I am getting distracted.
    Becoming the best that I can possibly be involves producing my best work, it does not involve being recognized as #1.
    It's great to benchmark. High performing teams usually have high performers that benchmark against one another. But it's not good when you let it become a 'noise' in your life.
    What other people do is out of my control.
    Where else what I do is very much within my control. I need to stay intrinsically motivated.
    Applying this 'life mission check' helps me manage my agitation. It tells me clearly, where I should focus my energy.
    Thank you, Friend.
    ---------
    I was at PUYO's beneficiary presentation on one of my slump days. I went into the beneficiary in a 'blah' mood, but I came out inspired.
    The Centre for Dreams
    I absolutely love how happy and hopeful they are.
    Again, one of those things that keep me in check.

  • The Lurking Factor

    For a while, I've been thinking about PUYO's Board succession.

     
    My thought process on this topic taught me an interesting lesson: a women's family value does affect her career.
     
    When I think about who could take over the Board, the two key things I take into consideration are:
    • Heart: does he or she have the right values? Would he/she be kind to our members? Would he/she do the right thing?
    • Skill: self explanatory.
    I surprised even myself with my lurking question:
    "After she have kids, would she have time for PUYO?" - I would have never guessed I'd think about this.
    As a woman, I understand the pull kids and family have on a woman.
     
    Therefore, as the Chairperson of the Board, I have started to pad myself for women's exit, particularly, when they start popping babies. Now, I do hope they stay. But, I'm really not going to say much if they choose to leave. I will still love them as much. Family is important.
     
    I admit, I can't say my mentality is the same towards a guy. I just don't expect their focus to shift as much.
     
    I hate referring to women as 'flight risks', because it just sounds bad. But, I don't deny, I do expect family life to have a bigger impact on women than men. I'm not saying my assumption is right. It's just my gut feel.
     
    In planning for succession, this translates to iterations of "when she leaves" plans. Positioning multiple people to take over. However, in a work setting, a manager could decide not to give his or her female subordinate the opportunity altogether, especially for a role that requires intense focus over an extended period of time.
     
    And guess what? How do I determine whether her priority would shift? 
     
    I draw on what she reveals about her family values on an everyday basis.
     
    So. I've realized, if I don't want to be marked as a 'flight risk' at work, how I talk about family matters, even in a social setting. Sharing my family ideals might plant seeds into people's head. Management might not mean to judge, but, they could.
     
    To be given opportunities, I really need to demonstrate that I would be committed to work.
     
    Huh.
     
    I am not sexist. But I'm surprised that this lurking factor crossed my mind.
     
    Let alone senior management's.
     
    It's interesting to be on a different side.
     
    Where do I stand on this?
     
    Let's just put it this way: E3 taught me a lot about what type of mom I'd be. And if you know what I'm like when I'm mentoring E3ers......
     
    I shall leave it at that.

  • A Culture of Appreciation

    I've been doing a fair bit of writing recently. My company's fiscal year-end coincides with PUYO's fiscal year-end.

    In the last month, I've completed 17 performance evaluations and award nominations for both work and PUYO. For each one, I invested significant time crafting my responses.

    PUYO: We are a 100% volunteer run organization. I wish I have more than 24 hours in a day to check up on people and thank them for all the blood, sweat and tears they put in. I don't. I rely on the Team Leads, Project Chairs and Execs to manage their teams accordingly. But I want to spread a culture. A culture of appreciation. Our volunteers don't have to be answering emails at 3am in the morning. Our volunteers don't have to be driving or busing north and south on their own dime. Our volunteers don't have to be sitting in meetings when their peers are out on weekends. But they choose to. Therefore, the least we could do as leaders is to provide informal and formal recognition. Part of it involves putting thoughts into filling out the nomination forms.

    Work: I hold similar attitude towards my coworkers. If someone deserves profiling, I profile them. For me, some of the initiatives I were able to push through would not have been possible without the support of my coworkers. I wrote a lot. To the extent that the General Manager sent me an email after to thank me for all the detailed award nominations I had submitted.

    I don't do it because I have to. I do it because I want to.

    I care, and if you're a PUYOer, I hope you care too.

     

  • I See Opportunities, Not Limitations

    This is so exciting. I just came across PRIDE Industries.

    Essentially, it's a manufacturing company that hires people with disabilities. Quoted from PRIDE Industries' website:

    "Where disability impedes employment, PRIDE is a champion of the unemployed. PRIDE Industries provides vocational training, counseling and support to individuals with disabilities and other employment barriers.

    We help people develop the technical and work skills they need to obtain and sustain employment, become contributing members of their communities, and live independently.

    ....

    At PRIDE, we shift the focus from disabilities to capabilities and create meaningful employment by offering our customers quality, high-value business solutions."

    I've been exploring the idea of creating a business that hires people with disabilities. For a while now I've been trying to find ways to fuse my career and nonprofit life into one. It's a multi-year project. And it's definitely a work-in-progress.

    I met with a retired senior executive of an industry I'm contemplating entering. I explained my concept. He blatantly said to me, in a 3 people store-front, it's hard to have staff do this and that AND take care of "Harry" or "Mary" at the same time. "Harry" and "Mary" are fictitious names of people with disability. He said I'm better off just supporting a cause through the company name and donating the money on a periodic basis.

    Well, I know I want to do more than just cutting a monthly cheque. I don't think people with disabilities should be looked upon as burdens. We should focus on what they can do as opposed to what they cannot do. There are ways to help them become independent, to help them integrate into society. I want these people to have the option of earning their money with dignity. Welfare is not the only option.

    Yes there are many hurdles I don't deny. But I don't believe that all that could be done had already been done.

    I've been researching this topic for a while now. According to Toronto Star:

    • In Canada, about 54% of disabled people are unemployed.
    • The real number is actually closer to 70% as a good portion of them have given up on even looking for a job.

    So, when I stumbled across PRIDE Industries tonight, I was estatic! Here's why:

    • Hiring people with disabilities is a proven business model. It can be done. I have one more lead to take my research further now.
    • There are good people in this world.

    All in all, I think there's value in being inexperienced. When you're inexperienced, you see opportunities as opposed to limitations.

    As a result, you try.

     

  • I Feel Mute

    Energy. Management. Size. Commitment. Burn Out. Fresh. Morale. Debate. Strategy. Priority. 80% Solution. People. Transition. Term. Stress. Balance. Creativity. Execution. Alignment. Sounding Board. Spirit. Email. Growing Pains. Gap. Old. Young. Competition. Camp. Internal. Scrutiny. Rift. Delivery. Empathy. Longevity. Skill Set. Professional. Money. Grateful. Good People. Development. Heart. Thinkers. Succession.

    I thought about letting go. Only to realize, it's not mine to let go.

    I feel mute.

    I need a brain.