“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves been seen.” – Brené Brown
Webster defines courage as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” I define courage as Whitney/Strong and our mission of finding common ground to end gun violence through data-driven, responsible gun ownership solutions.
Courage is also my decision to take a leap of faith, leaving a job in May 2019, to join Whitney as the Director of Development for the then solely volunteer-led Whitney/Strong organization. This role called me from those early days after Whitney’s shooting because I was driven by a sense of urgency to make an impact. My friend had survived being shot 12 times on a morning in September 2018, along with countless other friends traumatized by the events of that day, bringing an alignment between my abilities, my values, and what was needed to support Whitney/Strong. A recent Peloton ride playlist that included The Climb by Miley Cyrus provided a full circle moment connecting my feeling of purpose from that calling through the words of the song. This time, in this role, working with Whitney on something so personal has never been about what’s waiting on the other side but rather the courage, I believe we both gave each other, to keep going to reach where the organization is today.
Those early days in 2019 had Whitney and I rolling up our sleeves to formulate this mission into something real and relatable, with me in Dayton, Ohio and her in Louisville, Kentucky (we were living the remote work life before it became the standard during 2020 and beyond). And while neither Whitney or I had done non-profit work or fundraising prior to Whitney/Strong, we were both experienced in building relationships, outlining strategies, and executing tactics to grow. I tapped into all my prior experiences during the spring/summer of 2019 to build a development plan, outlining our first gala, quickly followed by our first community-based 24-hour fundraiser, and our #SeasonOfStrong end of year campaign. I researched free (non-profit life, you know) tools to allow text-to-give capabilities for our donors, engaged our board as peer-to-peer fundraisers complete with a kick-off pep rally, built an amazing donation tracker and donor listing in Excel (it was a beast), and learned how to champion e-communications with Mail Chimp! Whitney likens Whitney/Strong to a start-up and I am here to confirm what we’ve done together is truly that…we’ve built a foundation for growth, had courage to do hard things, and celebrated successes and failures along the way.
I could easily wax poetic on my time throughout these past almost four years with Whitney/Strong and instead, will share several moments I’m most proud of:
Moving from a volunteer-led organization to being compensated for my work. I’m proud of this not because of the compensation itself but because it represented a milestone in the years of hard work. Over $500,000 in donations has been raised in our four years together. I am grateful for the strength Whitney and I draw from our Whitney/Strong supporters that provides the daily courage to ensure this work to end gun violence moves forward.
Launching our Strong Squad, Whitney/Strong’s recurring donor community, in February 2020 and growing that donor segment from 2 original members to 2022’s Strong Squad donations totaling $13,526! This is a special group I have thoroughly enjoyed engaging with and cultivating.
Our “pandemic pivots” allowed Whitney/Strong to continue life-saving work and education in a virtual forum. When the world shut down in March 2020, many were scrambling for next steps. We took a breath and leaned into our courage to outline a plan for hosting virtual town halls throughout the summer of 2020 joining gun violence prevention experts with Whitney and community leaders via Zoom, to holding a virtual livestreamed gala featuring pre-recorded survivor stories, to manning drive through gun lock kit pickups and more. Whitney/Strong’s message, thanks to courageous persistence and thinking outside the box, remained strong and hope-filled during a tumultuous time for non-profits and businesses.
Leading our Whitney/Strong board and team through 24-hour giving days complete with tools, resources, and group text chains filled with cheers, competitions, and memes to add the “fun” to fundraising for this outstanding group of humans. Encouraging the hearts of our board and team was key to our goal-hitting success so they were compelled to share their “why” about Whitney/Strong with their networks to respond. And if you supported Give for Good Louisville, A Community Thrives, Giving Tuesday, and/or Cincinnati Gives…thank you…know that we put your dollars to work with education, research, and legislative related activities to end gun violence.
Whitney and I have been joined at the hip, it seems, as we’ve built the sustaining funds for this organization during our time together and enjoyed watching the Whitney/Strong team expand. We tried our hand at grant writing, and learned quickly that requires expertise like that of our Grant Director, Christa Rounsavall. The Save A Life sessions, teaching firearm safety and how to stop bleeding in the communities disproportionately impacted by gun violence, saw their best year ever in 2022 under the leadership of Danea Cloyd and will continue to broaden its reach throughout 2023. Our legislative work, championed by Emily Wiley, saw an impactful day at the Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky recently, complete with supporters meeting with their respective legislators for in-depth conversation. And then there’s my girl, Whitney, who didn’t plan running a non-profit with a vision of a future free of gun violence, yet wakes up each morning driven by her own experience and desire to not have gun violence impact others like it did her. She is the engine that drives this organization courageously forward and her tenacity is relentless. I often tell her that her story will continue to touch whoever hears it because it does. I’m touched personally because of where it happened and how that day unfolded with her survival, but knowing others did not have the same outcome. You never think of walking into your workplace and being hit with a barrage of bullets meant to take you out. That day changed her life, and mine as a result, forever, and this work is driven by that need to ensure responsible gun ownership becomes the standard and gun violence is not the accepted norm of living.
As I’m preparing to turn the page and move fully into retirement, my first stop is at the beach to recharge and then I look forward to settling into what daily life looks like without development responsibilities. And once again, it’s not about what’s waiting on the other side, but more for reminding myself to stay present and courageous in each day as it comes. Just as I know Whitney and my friends at Whitney/Strong will do as they move forward, with me cheering them on from the sidelines.
“Courage is contagious. A critical mass of brave leaders is the foundation of an intentionally courageous culture. Every time we are brave with our lives, we make the people around us a little braver and our organizations bolder and stronger.” – Brené Brown