About the Winding Road

For me, it’s not about the journey – it’s about the destination. The more direct the route, the better.

But as a nonprofit Executive Director, I discovered that getting to the “destination” wasn’t as easy as driving straight. The road to impact was full of potholes, downed trees, traffic, and detours. I didn’t know what lay around the bend. There was no map.

Without my path laid out, I felt anxious and stressed.

Then this meme crossed my social media feed:

I pinned it to the bulletin board. And it has become my touchpoint in moments of frustration.

Here’s what I learned. To serve our missions, we must meet challenges, overcome barriers, follow unusual pathways, explore uncharted territory. Sometimes, we even have to build brand new roads. It may feel like a formidable task.

But we can do it by developing the nonprofit leader’s equivalent of GPS. We start with mission and vision; add strategic and critical thinking, relying on both evidence and creativity; build relationships and collaborations; tell our stories authentically; and value the wisdom of the team. When we use these tools, road maps emerge. And we find our way on the route to social impact.

When I started my consulting business, I wanted my logo to reflect my mission — to provide the “GPS” to guide organizations as they navigate that complex road.

Welcome to Canter Strategies. Join me on the road to social impact!