Building Bridges

I was succeeding in corporate America for one of the world’s largest retail companies. But I found my true fulfillment in the cramped office where I spent Saturdays volunteering for Suicide Prevention Services.

There were so many other young professionals like me—people who had talents to offer and a desire to give back. But it was hard finding ways to volunteer that fit our schedules.

I wanted to build a bridge between people and need.

I shared my dream—which was really, at that point, just the seed of an idea I knew needed nurtured—with my boss. It would have been easy for her to reprimand me for not pouring my passions fully into my day job. Instead, she said she wanted to help.

Suzanne Coates Brown and I spent a year of late nights at her dining room table crafting the business plan for Besa.

Concurrently, I crafted a business plan for a downtown dog-walking company because I knew that even in a perfect world, it would take time to earn a paycheck from Besa. This would allow me the time and flexibility to launch the nonprofit while providing enough to pay my bills.

Still, leaving my corporate career was a risk. But developer Brett Kaufman—Besa’s first corporate partner—taught me a valuable lesson: Decide what you stand for in this world, and support that mission with everything you do.

Besa—which is an Albanian term that means “to keep a promise”—is what I stand for. So I went all in.

Besa, based in Columbus, is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting those in need by connecting people and businesses with local charities. Our goal? To build bridges that connect the community with kindness. And we use authentic relationship-building and innovative technology to do it.

No matter your interest, we want to connect you to the community in a way that feels authentic to you. Everyone has the ability to make an impact in their unique way. Besa is helping them do it.

In our first six years, we’ve rallied 25,000 volunteers to work on 2,500+ projects, established partnerships with 70 nonprofits large and small and made $2 million in community impact. We work with nonprofits from Buddy Up to Mid-Ohio Foodbank to help amplify their good work, and we partner with passionate corporations, including Big Lots, CoverMyMeds, EXPRESS, GBQ Partners, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Kaufman Development, Safelite AutoGlass and more.

Besa eventually reached a place to provide a salary for me, and our full-time team is now eight people strong. The boss whose dining room table I sat at for so many nights is our board chair. We’re on track to make $5 million in impact by 2020. And we’re setting the stage to expand nationally.

Our growth is thanks in large part to mentors like Brett I have met along the way who have made the time to talk, to listen and to teach. It’s The Columbus Way. And ultimately, it uplifts us all.

I’m filled with gratitude for how Columbus has rallied behind this idea, from Fortune 500 corporations to 23-year-olds who have just moved into town and want to engage.

For example, we just launched our annual Adopt A Senior program, which invites people to become Secret Santas for local senior citizens. It was our longest-ever list: 1,500 seniors. And every single senior was adopted in less than four hours.

We built a bridge, and people aren’t just using it, they want it to be bigger and wider. They want to go further. How amazing is that?

I’m still learning every day. But here’s what I know: Figure out what speaks to you and chase after it. Don’t be afraid to jump in. Ask questions. Listen.

Want to make a difference? Don’t assume you know what someone’s needs are. Ask nonprofit leaders how you can help without becoming a burden to their organization. You don’t have to start a nonprofit or raise $1 million. You make change by walking in someone else’s shoes, by gaining a new perspective, by seeing your community through a different lens—one hour at a time. (And if you’re not sure where to start, visit us at givebesa.org/volunteer.)

Perhaps above all, change doesn’t start at the top. It starts in individual hearts.

My life’s mission is to find people whose hearts are on fire and connect them to those in need in meaningful ways so that together, we rise.

I hope I am just getting started.