505. How Mother Cabrini Health Foundation Launched + Scaled with a Startup Mentality - Channon Lucas

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Overview

Meet Channon. Five years ago, she started as the second official employee of Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, New York’s largest grantmaking foundation. Since then, the Foundation has granted over $635 million to nonprofits improving the health and well-being of New Yorkers 🏥From the jump, Channon set out to disrupt traditional philanthropy practices and organizational structures. She’s pulling back the curtain on how she operationalized and designed the Foundation with a ‘startup mentality’, building an internal system that allows the organization to flourish but remain flexible🔄 If you’re wondering if you can truly foster a workplace culture that balances continuous learning with the courage to embrace change, this episode is for you💪

💡Learn

Overview of Mother Cabrini Health Foundation
Case Study: Scaling with a “Startup Mentality”
How to build a team that flourishes, yet remains flexible

Today’s Guest

Channon Lucas, Chief Administrative Officer, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation

“There’s nothing wrong with saying I don’t know, we’re the new kids on the block.”

— Channon Lucas, Chief Administrative Officer, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation

Episode Transcript

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Episode Highlights

Channon’s story and journey to where she is today (3:55)
History and mission of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation (8:50)
Scaling the Foundation with a “Startup Mentality” (13:05)
How they’ve built a team that flourishes, yet remains flexible (16:00)
How they take care of + focus on their team (22:05)
Employee retention and compensation in the nonprofit sector (27:10)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Channon’s life (32:30)
Channon’s One Good Thing: Invest in relationships. (36:05)
How to connect with Channon + Mother Cabrini Health Foundation (37:36)

Impactful Quotes

“There's nothing wrong with saying I don't know, we're the new kids on the block.” - Channon

“I say this to my team all the time. I don't know everything and sometimes I decide something. and then tomorrow, I might learn something new, and I might need to pivot.” -Channon

“There's a fifth program area, which is our general fund. You might be doing something amazing that doesn't fall into one of those tidy buckets, we still want to know about it and hear about it.” -Channon

“We want to build your resume and your experience while you're here.” -Channon

“People want more than just the accolades and they should be able to do good, but also do good for their selves and their family and have a career.” -Channon

“I think you can give as much mental health to someone, but if you don't pay them, that's also going to put a strain on mental health as well.” -Becky

“I don't have to do everything every day. But I can find peers and I can find that fellowship and I can find that collective that we can do big things and tackle big dragons together.” -Channon