Turning Challenges into Opportunities: Insights from Nonprofit Leadership

I recently had the opportunity to speak with China Bushell , the executive director of A Living Library Life Frames , a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming desolate, concrete, litter-prone areas, into vibrant spaces by creating lush nature walkways and gardens. The nonprofit was established in 1998 by the late environmental artist Bonnie Ora Sherk, after seeing neighborhoods in San Francisco and New York grappling with rising water levels due to century-old construction over creeks. She founded the organization to address these elevated levels by engaging local community members to reintroduce native plants that can absorb excess water.

In 2021, China took over the organization and introduced programs to teach local children and teenagers about gardening, healthy eating habits, and growing nutritious foods for their community.

To uncover valuable lessons from running a nonprofit, I spoke with China. Here’s what she shared.

As the Executive Director of the nonprofit, you handle grant writing, project curation, community outreach, and more. How do you manage to balance all these responsibilities?

The Power of Planning: I currently manage four grants across New York and San Francisco, overseeing six part-time employees who each work fewer than 25 hours a week. They handle projects such as watering, cleaning, and teaching youth gardening classes during and after school. To keep everything organized, I use a detailed calendar that allows me to adjust schedules as needed to meet our overall goals. It often feels like I’m juggling glass plates while choreographing a delicate dance to ensure everything runs smoothly. This coordination makes starting each week with a clear daily plan essential for my success.

Planning also comes with the added benefit of helping me manage the unexpected moments, such as when children come to the garden to help or ask questions. It doesn’t matter how long my to-do list is, I always take the time to connect with them. With my weekly goals in place, I can quickly reassess my time allocation, allowing me to embrace these important connections while staying on track.

As a small nonprofit making a big impact in gardening and local communities, what challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?

Think Big. Spend Small: Our biggest challenge is cash flow. As a nonprofit aiming for a significant impact on a tight budget, we rely on reimbursement grants, which require us to cover costs upfront and submit extensive paperwork for reimbursement. This process is time-consuming and often excludes essential expenses like rent and staff healthcare, leading to financial constraints. To survive, we must be creative, resourceful, and nimble.

For example, we want to engage our communities authentically to make gardening inviting and accessible, but I don’t have the bandwidth to do outreach alone. To solve for this, I empower our dedicated volunteers with creative freedom, and it's inspiring to see their ideas flourish. One intern writes engaging newsletters filled with crossword puzzles and thought-provoking questions, another conducts "Fun Fridays" in schools, interacting with kids, while a talented photographer captures our events, generating engaging online content.

I also want to mention that we offer stipends to our volunteers. Although these stipends are small and primarily cover expenses like coffee or transportation, they're important as they express appreciation, make our volunteers - who belong to underserved communities - feel valued, and teach them the significance of investing in their work and neighborhood.

What advice do you have for others running non-profit organizations and small businesses?

Make Friends with Finance: I think that understanding finances is crucial; without knowledge of budgeting, it's easy to overspend and end up with nothing. I believe everyone in my position should either write a business plan or take a business course. As part of my program, now in its seventh year, juniors and seniors will be required to write their own business plans, teaching them critical skills in strategic thinking and financial management that will benefit them in their future careers.

To learn more about Life Frames: A Living Library, click here.?

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.