My favorite part of being a counselor was the moment when the client that I was working with seemed to make a ‘break-through.’ Often it was a new realization that shed a new light on the past, and lent new perspective to the future.
Many of us have that same type of epiphany from time to time; sometimes it is life changing, and sometimes it slips away to be forgotten. As people came and went from the counseling program I never knew, which one would having a life changing experience, which one would miss the chance. It was much the same when I was teaching people how to reduce their risk of HIV or Hepatitis C. I would have only a few moments to ask the right questions and hope that they answered truthfully, at least to themselves. For most of that time, I saw myself as a seed planter and I focused my efforts on changing the world by affecting change in the moment, one person at a time.
Later when I began developing programs, I saw how small groups of people, could with the right knowledge and skills, change their community. The first time I participated in organizing a World AIDS Day event, it struck me that a mobilized community could have a huge impact in the world. For the first time I felt that, I could contribute to a change in the community, even if it was just in small ways with small groups of people.
One of the greatest challenges I have faced is managing the development of an organization. It is so important for communities to collaborate and strengthen each other not just for local change, but regional change. In today’s economic and business, environments many organizations struggle to overcome the barriers they face that prevent effective partnerships. Sometimes it is simply lacking the time to create structures that allow the organization to operate more effectively. Other times it is a lack of funding, staffing, or facilities.
Throughout my work in the non-profit world, I have often seen services, programs, and dreams struggle not because there is a lack of desire to carry them through, only a lack of resource — whether it is structure, money, knowledge, or capacity. Lack of resources can result in poorly operated programs and under developed organizations, poorly delivered services that merely band aid social ills rather than providing long-term solutions, and lack of growth.
From the first time Bruce and I worked on a project together, I discovered that the corporate world in its systems, rules, procedures (and all other things usually resisted by small businesses and non-profits) could greatly improve their ability to face and overcome barriers to success.
The vision behind Tre is the blending of the corporate perspective with the non-profit heart, growing big business structures inside small businesses. We began to dream of how much non-profits and small businesses dedicated to positively affecting our communities and our world could accomplish with strategically designed systems and fully equipped staff.
Tre aspires to change the world through developing stronger organizations.
Mindy Duncan, Tre
