Chris Lambert / Speaker Reel

Please welcome with a big round of applause for Chris Lambert. It's time to work more on our organizations, not just in them. All non profit leaders believe the people that we serve deserve the highest levels of excellence we can possibly give them. But most of us are so focused on serving those outwardly, we aren't investing enough time, time, talent and energy on our inward internal systems that would actually ensure greater impact and greater reach. In 2010, I founded a Detroit based nonprofit that helps create neighborhood revitalization that lasts. Our first four years were really messy, but over the next nine years we invested $51 million into Detroit neighborhoods, renovated four school buildings, mobilized 82,000 volunteers and beautified over 2,300 city blocks. We've been recognized as one of the best managed nonprofits in the region and Candid and Charity Navigator have awarded us their highest possible ratings. The reason we were able to grow so rapidly is because we created an organizational operating system we call Next Level Nonprofit. Simply put, it's a series of timeless principles that ensure all of us can build the dream teams we're longing for, serve more people, and serve them far more effectively. In my early days as a nonprofit founder CEO, I achieved some epic fails. I'm talking serious yet avoidable missteps that were the result of my ignorance and it was my responsibility to know better. For instance, we hired people with yellow and even red flags that I would have seen had I actually known what to look for. And if our existing team members weren't already rock stars who could independently overcome their own challenges, I had no idea how to help them grow, develop, let alone thrive as a team. When it came to our strategic plan, it may have looked good on paper, but it wasn't operationalized. These are the three audiences I love to connect with. One, non profit leaders in organizations along of all shapes and sizes, 2. Business leaders on nonprofit boards and 3, anybody who's passionate about the nonprofits they support. And in my keynotes and workshops, I'm going to give you actionable tools that you can begin to use immediately and see results. The good news is we eventually discovered how to attract, develop and retain top talent and become a team of one. We also learned to create a two page strategic plan where every team member throughout the entire organization is crystal clear and excited about where we're going and how we're going to get there. And today I'm going to show you how we did it. We didn't just choose this work, this work chose us. And we absolutely love the people we serve. It's time to work more on our organizations, not just in them. All we need to do now is do it. May we all take our organizations to the next level and all the other levels after that. Thank you.