

Educating and empowering 'everyday' black nonprofit leaders to be impactful change agents in their communties.
Did You Know?
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97% of board chairs and executive directors are non-Latinx white.
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58% of rural nonprofits have no board members who are people of color.
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All-white boards govern 16 percent of nonprofits that primarily focus on serving people of color and 38 percent of organizations that do not primarily focus on people of color.
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START OR GROW YOUR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
FOUNDER SUCCESS STORIES
Tanya Lofty, Co-Founder of Lofte Ground, Inc. shares her experience with working with our lead strategist Dr. Sharla Walker. Since working with 9to5 Founder Lofte Ground has continued to increase their impact in serving the community. Most recently, Lofte Ground has partnered with Google as a result of working with the 9to5 Founder.
9to5 Founder worked with Danielle Reddick, Founder and Executive Director of Tiny Hearts Remembered, a 501(c)3 organization that provides support to mothers who have experienced pregnancy and infant loss. Danielle wanted to improve the function and impact of the organization to improve board participation, build fundable programs, and improve nonprofit operations to help with balancing her life obligations and organization building.
Danielle hired 9to5 Founder to:
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Provide strategy to restructure and rebuild the organization’s board with active and engaged board members.
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Identify strategies and develop profitable nonprofit programs that would not solely depend on grant funding, increasing sustainability of the organization.
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Improve systems and processes of the organization to improve function and impact.
The Challenge
Case Study:
Tiny Hearts Remembered, Inc.


9to5 Founder developed a customized nonprofit blueprint including step-by-step guidance to renovate Tiny Hearts Remembered, Inc. A plan was developed to restructure the organization’s board of directors utilizing industry standard best practices and develop a board recruitment, orientation, and training program to ensure board member quality and engagement. We were able to develop 3 sustainable programs that served the vision and mission of the organization and expanded the impact that the organization would have. Each program had a clear implementation plan, evidence-based curriculums, and evaluation plan. Furthermore, after identifying the organization’s target population and unique service proposition we were able to craft a grant writing strategy and build the grant master template.
The Solution
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Tiny Hearts Remembered now has 6 active and engaged board members.
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The organization is serving over 400 women via the Tiny Hearts Support program, where mothers are provided with financial and social emotional support following the loss of their infant.
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Increase in community interest
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Launching organization podcast
The Results

Mission, Vision, & Target Population
Clarified the organization's vision, mission, and values.
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Identified target population and developed a statement of need utilizing evidence-based research.
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Developed 5 year organization strategic plan.
Board Development
Audited current board structure, bylaws, and systems and processes.
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Educated board members utilizing industry standard curricula on board role and nonprofit sector education.
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Developed recruitment and orientation processes.
Program Development
Identified sustainable programs utilizing our signature Public Health Positioning™ approach to identify funding methods for the organization.
Developed three grant ready programs including implementation, method, and evaluation processes.
Operations & Sustainability
Provided free and low cost operations methods to increase efficiency while decreasing the demands on the board and executive director.
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Implemented systems to streamline volunteer recruitment and onboarding.
" Working with Dr. Sharla to revamp my nonprofit organization was a fulfilling experience. I was able to tell her my vision and the target audience that I wanted to serve in order to make a difference. Dr. Sharla was able to not only go step-by-step with each element that is required for a nonprofit but she also assigned homework to ensure I understood how to be the executive of the organization. The homework assignments helped me to become aware of my strengths and weakness. I was able to learn how to develop programs with the templates she provided that I still use today. Sharla also went into depth about how to choose board members and expectations because that is the area I struggled with. I highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to start a nonprofit or who has a nonprofit but are looking to revamp."

Danielle Reddick
Tiny Hearts Remembered Inc., Founder
Founder Feedback
Meet Your Lead Nonprofit Strategist - Dr. Sharla Walker
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Dr. Sharla Walker, is a nonprofit founder and executive, certified nonprofit consultant, pediatric nurse practitioner, podcaster, and author who is committed to helping closing the leadership gap for African Americans in the nonprofit sector.
Her impact as a nonprofit program developer and founder includes the development of a grant funded breastfeeding initiative, the Mother’s Best Breastfeeding Program. This program served hundreds of women of color who needed access and support to increase breastfeeding rates among African American families. The program increased breastfeeding initiation by 37% and breastfeeding duration by 82% in just one month following implementation.
Through launching Hearts Over Habits, Inc. she has been successful in cultivating an online life skills program to help bridge the access gap for young women who were in at risk communities. The organization has partnered with partners such as Grow with Google and UniteUs.
Utilizing skill developed through her education and experience, Dr. Walker has developed strategic execution curriculums to offer the necessary guidance for black nonprofit founders to not just start nonprofit organizations but to become confident executive leaders.