u/Ancient_Cupcake_9170

▲ 211 r/nonprofit

UPDATE! Oops - Zoom sent me meeting notes

My first post is here.

Hey everyone. Thank you all so so much for the encouraging words and advice. I spent all day Wednesday mulling over things and waiting to see if the meeting feedback would come to me naturally.

Ultimately, I decided on a middle-ground approach based on all of the advice. I texted the ED and just asked if I had been expected at the Tuesday board meeting. I let him know it appeared that the meeting was on my Zoom calendar. He said it was an oversight and my invitation was cancelled shortly after. He followed up a little later saying that the board still had some questions about my program and he wanted to call me to go over them.

Wednesday and Thursday pass with no call. I'm sort of in a holding pattern and taking a fake self-care day since I'm no longer confident enough to be making program calls and I want to stay available for the ED call. And I bet you can guess what happens. It never comes.

Friday morning, the ED sends a monthly update memo to the staff with board recommendations for our different lines of effort. And the part about my program is a little strange. None of the board assessments were accurate based on the state of the program. I had made changes based on their feedback from April meeting and the memo considered none of it. Worst of all - I had an EOB deliverable to the board to show I was making progress.

Then it clicked. Neither the ED, nor the Board, were following my updates. They weren't checking my working document. They weren't acknowledging my messages up the chain. I pretty much threw the emergency brakes and called the ED. Sent him the link to my updated working document and asked him to go over with me on a call so we could address board concerns. We got through about two items before he realized something had gone awry.

About halfway through the conversation, the ED was saying "sorry" more than any other word. He was emphatic that he felt like he had let me down, was embarrassed by his lack of faith in me, and was extremely appreciative that I approached the situation with a cool head and poise. I told him that this whole hoopla had happened because of the auto-generated notes and he was mortified, but very appreciative that I told him and handled it well.

Really, I owe a lot of it to you all! Y'all's advice was great and helped me keep my cool this week. Thanks so much.

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u/Ancient_Cupcake_9170 — 5 days ago
▲ 384 r/nonprofit

I am an operational executive in a small affinity-based non-profit and I am currently managing an overhaul of one of our programs. It's a flagship program that has been a part of our brand since founding, but it has not grown or matured since. Hence my efforts this year.

In April, I was added to the monthly board meeting to inform the board of my goals and get feedback. It was a good discussion and their insights definitely led to some positive adjustments.

Well, now it's may and, whoopsies, I had been added to the recurring invite. Not just added as a one-time guest. So after last night's board meeting, I received the readout notes where my work was mentioned, questioned, and doubted.

I'm a little frustrated because I've been full-steam-ahead for a month after that first meeting assuming we had the green light! But I also recognize that this was not necessarily meant for me...

So right now I think I'm just going to pretend I did not receive the email and keep working unless my ED raises the concerns directly.

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u/Ancient_Cupcake_9170 — 8 days ago

I began writing the Age of Intercession about 12 years ago, starting with this book, Halcyon.

The series follows a number of people in a middle-fantasy, late Renaissance-style setting as they come to terms with how the world is changing around them. For an era, mortal heroes have ascended to godhood, continuing their heroics and villainy by crashing into mortal lives at will.

But now, the stream of new gods has slowed. Society has grown bitter and cold. The norms and principles that had stood for so long are being tested.

This story is inspired by my own journeys with public and military service. I'm so excited to be sharing it! And the good news? The story is complete! Supporting now will allow me to continue editing the sequels so they can be released as soon as possible!

Halcyon is available as an eBook and on Kindle Unlimited.

u/Ancient_Cupcake_9170 — 16 days ago