Lessons for Nonprofit and Start-Up Leaders

Maxine Harris, PhD, is the co-founder and current CEO of Community Connections, a large behavioral healthcare organization located in the nations’ capital. She has been operating (in conjunction with her now deceased partner Helen Bergman) Community Connections for over 30 years. Harris is a national expert in clinical practices for treating persons with serious mental illness, substance addiction, homelessness, trauma, domestic violence and early traumatic loss. She has authored or edited nine books and ten training manuals on these topics and has been keynote speaker at several national conferences. She has also served as an expert witness on cases involving the impact of traumatic loss on surviving children. Her most successful book, The Loss that is Forever: The Lifelong Impact of the Early Death of a Mother or Father, which is still in print after almost 20 years. Harris is the recipient of the first HOPE award, granted by the federal Center for Mental Health Services for her “pioneering work and innovation in the field of trauma-informed care.” She has also served as the principal investigator on federal grants studying homelessness, trauma, addiction, HIV infection and residential services. Michael O’Leary, PhD, is professor of Leadership, Management, and Innovation at Georgetown University, and is a former policy analyst and management consultant. He has taught a wide variety of executive programs for organizations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America (including the World Bank Group, OPIC, and IDB). He is also co-designer of the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program, which was founded by the Bush and Clinton Foundations. His research deals with high-performing virtual teams, multitasking, multi-teaming, and teams facing resource constraints. In 2015, his study about dispersed and face-to-face colleagues won Research Paper of the Year Award from Europe’s largest association of IT executives.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Every Organization Has a Culture of Its Own: The Beginnings of Community Connections
How to Make an Idea Come Alive: Inspiration, Thinking It Through, and Making It Happen
Power, Authority, and Responsibility: Who’s in Charge Around Here?
Hiring: People to Help with the Work
Barriers to Solving Problems: There Must Be a Way Around This
Engaging the Outside World: Is Anyone Out There?
The Importance of Self- and Organizational Awareness: Taking a Hard Look
Preparing for the Future: What’s Next?
Conclusion