[Image description: A close-up photo of Steve, a smiling Asian elder wearing dark sunglasses, a long-sleeve purplish gray shirt, and a black handkerchief scarf with white markings tied around his neck. In the backdrop is green grass and foliage, a hint of sea, and an expanse of cloudy gray sky.] Photo by Steve Lew
CompassPoint veteran Steve Lew reflects on his 27-year journey at our organization with humility, appreciation, and grace for what has been and what is to come.
by Steve Lew
I’m retiring from CompassPoint after 27 years. I know it’s hard to comprehend working at the same organization for so long—like, hasn’t it been stale? I guess I’ve been able to “re-pot” several times in the same place because CompassPoint has continuously evolved in its purpose and practices and so have I. Evolved in how I practice leadership with others, how I practice and teach fundraising and coaching skills, and how I think about the role of nonprofits within movements and mobilizing resources for this work.
I have grown so much through my co-workers and from folks who come to Compasspoint programs, mostly by being in vulnerable, heart-centered spaces to nurture multiracial pro-Black leadership and to strengthen and transform our organizations. I can also say that love is what has kept me here for so long. Love for my co-workers past and present, and feeling beloved as we created and evolved. It’s been one long, glorious ride!
The thing I have loved about doing this work with progressive leaders and organizations through CompassPoint has been the opportunity to support many of them over time, sometimes decades. To work here this long, I’ve gotten to support some groups as they were beginning—seeing each new generation of staff from those organizations come to our workshops, learning cohorts, and professional networks; and coaching directors as they took on more responsibility (and headaches) of running their organizations. I grew in my own leadership style with these generations. The practices of shared leadership, distributed leadership, and even leadership coaching were unheard of 20 years ago. Now many organizations have a deeper capacity for all staff to lead in their work, for BIPOC leaders to thrive and to manage change and transition, big and small. I was fortunate to ride with CompassPoint’s own organizational journey of operationalizing deep equity, distributive leadership, and pro-Blackness, among many evolutions. These competencies and capacities are needed more than ever in this period of our nation.
As someone who has also raised money over the years as a volunteer for several organizing groups, I have seen a shifting from the professionalization and siloing of fundraising to a resource mobilization orientation, that values fundraising and relationship building as an everyday part of organizing to build power for the many; with many people mobilizing resources and relationships and welcoming more people into justice movements. Terms like “donor organizing” and “resource mobilization” are more than just updated lingo for resumes. I see them as a return to grassroots fundraising; intersectional and class-based understandings of what it means to resource the work when it will never be fully supported by government or foundations. CompassPoint has enabled me to build learning communities of fundraisers who are hungry for this—and they are building the road for all of us to have a right relationship with money. While the resource mobilizer learning spaces at CompassPoint are ending—at least for now—I am proud to have nurtured this for almost a decade.
I just began receiving my SSI and Medicare benefits from paying into the system since 1978 (it’s not just an entitlement!), and with this transition to elderhood, it’s not just a moment to look back, but to repurpose again, ‘older and bolder’ in these times. Which is something I also wish for everyone joining these learning spaces—that you find ways to lead in your work and thrive, in hopes that our organizations can meet these times with collective power and creative power.
If you’d like to stay connected, receive coaching, or exchange ideas or garden tips, you can reach me at SteveLewOAK@proton.me
– Steve
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