Someone asked me how I manage to run 3 NGOs in 3 countries while being in academia full time. Well, I don’t sleep (haha!). Ok seriously, the truth is, you have to invest in your team & make them as capable or even more capable than you. Don’t make it all about you.

Let me use the example of my good friend @susannaveevo. We started RESOPA (France) & PACE (Estonia) around the same time, after long nights of brainstorming in Reunion Islands. 3 years later, both NGOs are doing well but PACE is ahead in terms of organizational development. Why?

While Susanna invested in her team so that they can develop, lead and deliver projects. I on the other hand mainly worked alone. From writing projects to implementation, I mainly worked solo. This here, is how to NOT run an organization or a non-profit.

I chose to do everything myself because I feared someone else might not put in the same amount of energy that I would put in, or maybe I felt that I want things done in a specific way. But what if how I want it done is not the only way we can do it?

Sometimes we should explore.

Susanna recruited people who have much passion & commitment for "her" projects. I on the other hand, felt I was a jack of all trades & carried the entire NGO on my head. We are making huge strides but it’s very obvious that, if I should walk away right now, RESOPA will collapse.

PACE probably won’t if Suusi does. This is why I’ve decided to invest more in training my team & recruit more youth to handle our projects while giving them the freedom to innovate & iterate. Personal ambitions can be problematic when we juxtapose them to the NGO’s sustainability

Creating an NGO or a foundation is nice of the leader but it gets to a point where the community in which the project is should appropriate itself of the project. At that stage, the leader should take the backstage, become a coach while letting the project develop & scale up.