Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Rhodes.
Linda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My passion for helping others has been a huge influence in my life. My maternal Grandfather was a County Commissioner in Fayette County in the late 50s until he retired in 1979. Most importantly, he was a leader who saw a need in his community and outside of his elected position, gathered others to privately fund and build a group workplace for mentally impaired adults in his county in the mid-70s. When one of my mentors in the mid-1990s suggested I move from a job in retail management to fundraising at a non-profit, I was wary if I could make the transition. At the time, the only experience I had was as a volunteer on the executive planning committee for the Houston Chronicle’s Book and Author dinner. By the grace of God and a really good recommendation from my mentor, I landed my first position as a fundraiser. I went from helping plan a dinner for 500 plus guests to planning and fundraising a walking event for 20,000 plus people raising more than $1.5 million as the March of Dimes’ (MOD) Director of WalkAmerica (now March for Babies) in Houston market. During my 13 years with the organization, I was fortunate to hold national and state leadership roles while with MOD, however always leading their Walking event. I moved to the American Heart Association (AHA) in 2008 to learn more about non-profit management and other events as the Vice President of Corporate Development and Associate Executive Director. While at AHA I was able to work closely with volunteer boards as well as work on their Walks, Go Red for Women Luncheons and Heart Balls in both the Houston and Northwest markets.
After leaving the AHA, I took a short hiatus and worked as a part-time fundraising consultant assisting small to medium non-profit organizations by providing the tools, resources and knowledge that I gained working for two national organizations. It was during that time that I was introduced to The Women’s Fund (TWF) by a friend who also happened to serve on their Board. I had attended TWF events in the past, but it wasn’t until I was working as their consultant that I learned more about the organization and became intrigued. When my predecessor’s husband was transferred to the Virgin Islands, she encouraged me to apply for the position. Luckily, I got the job, however, I was fearful and overwhelmed. Throughout my non-profit career, I had focused on fundraising, managing staff and budgets and had the support and resources that come with a national organization. At TWF, I was on my own with the exception of one full-time and one part-time program staff. My biggest fear was being able to lead our program team as I had zero, zip, no experience in that category. I was able to overcome that by surrounding myself with the right team members.
Since joining The Women’s Fund in 2014, I feel that not only have I hit my stride as a leader but that I am making a tremendous impact in the lives of some of Houston’s most vulnerable, underserved and at-risk women and girls.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. If there weren’t any bumps and potholes along the way, how would we grow and learn?
As I mentioned earlier, before joining TWF my experience was with managing staff and events/fundraising. The thing that kept me up at night was our programming. I had zero experience in implementing programs, updating health publications, or managing a program team. Making sure we had the right team members on our program team was instrumental in growing our program footprint. I am proud to say that in the 5 1/2 years that I have been with The Women’s Fund, we have grown our program outreach from an average of 1,500 participants on an annual basis to approximately 12,000 annually. Without that team, TWF would not be experiencing the success we are today. Similar to the saying “behind every great man there is a woman,” my mantra has been “Behind every great leader, there is an incredible team making them look great!”
Additionally, we have experienced two major crises under my leadership just in the last three years. First Hurricane Harvey which devastated our city and now the Covid-19 pandemic. During Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath, many of our board members and volunteers lost most or all of their belongings in the flooding, however, while that was a setback for them, they had the resources to build again. The loss our participants and their families experienced was overwhelming. Many of those we serve represent some of Houston’s most disadvantaged communities. We were fortunate then as we had a strong funding plan in place and were able to continue our programming without any gaps in service once floodwaters receded. At the end of 2017, we had an increase in fundraising and program participants all due to careful planning and an incredible Board.
Throughout my 25 years in the non-profit sector, I have seen many crises such as 9/11, the fall of Enron and the 2002 and 2008 economic crises, but nothing prepared any of us for the complete shutdown of the world with the Covid-19 pandemic. We have had to completely pivot all of our programming and our spring wine event to a virtual format, which has been challenging not being techies, however, I am amazed by our team and their ability to switch gears. Fundraising has been challenging, however again careful planning, the addition of a Capacity Campaign right before Harvey hit and a truly committed volunteer board has allowed us to avoid layoffs and salary reductions like so many organizations have had to do.
The Women’s Fund for Health Education and Resiliency – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Women’s Fund is a non-profit dedicated to providing Houston-area women and girls with the tools they need to be advocates for their health. For 41 years, The Women’s Fund has been educating girls and women through classes, workshops, lectures and publications focused on physical, mental, financial, emotional, health and wellness.
The Women’s Fund collaborates with community partners to provide its programs and resources free of charge to the communities with limited access to health information. Houston-area women and girls learn resiliency skills to increase self-efficiency, decision-making, goal setting, communication and resourcefulness to be their own health advocates and ensure positive health outcomes for individuals and communities.
The cornerstone of all of our materials and programming is teaching women and girls resiliency skills. Resiliency is not a trait that we are inherently born with, however, it is a skill that can be learned and developed. Resiliency is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant source of stress, such a family and relationship problems, health issues, and financial stressors.
Our programs focus on seven of the eight dimensions of health and wellness as defined by the World Health Organization, which include: emotional, intellectual, physical, environmental, financial, occupational, and social. It’s a holistic approach to good health and wellness. You cannot achieve optimal physical and mental health if you are in an unhealthy relationship, struggling with your finances, or having problems managing or coping with stress.
I am most proud of our focus on resiliency, which also sets us apart from other health education organizations. The Women’s Fund serves close to 12,000 women and adolescent girls and distributes 10,000 of our four publications each year free of charge.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Wow, that’s a difficult one! I am a very goal-oriented individual and a planner, so I tend to set personal and professional goals regularly and am driven to not only meet but exceed them. But, I also believe in constantly reviewing where I stand with those goals. Sometimes it is in our personal and organizational best interest to revise goals to meet the current situation. For example, our Capacity Campaign was supposed to be completed by the end of 2019. After Hurricane Harvey, we had to be sensitive to the loss many of our board members and donors experienced and postponed the public launch of the campaign, which caused us to lose momentum.
In January 2020, we began making plans to relaunch the Campaign, however now we are facing Covid-19 and its economic impact to the world. Despite of Harvey and Covid-19, we have secured two-thirds of the revenue goal for the campaign. I count that as a success because without the two-thirds, we would have had to implement staff and/or salary reductions which would have led to not being able to provide services to as many women and girls. I tend to do the same in my personal life, set goals, plan, reevaluate, and reset. In the end, I believe success is to be able to adapt and flourish in your current situation.
Pricing:
- Memberships start at $50
- ROC for h.e.r. (young professionals) memberships start at $40
Contact Info:
- Address: The Women’s Fund for Health Education and Resiliency
5433 Westheimer, Suite 924
Houston, Texas 77056 - Website: www.thewomensfund.org
- Phone: 713-623-6543
- Email: womfund@thewomensfund.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewomensfund/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWomensFund
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheWomensFund
- Yelp: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-women-s-fund-02723311/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ5YQsyUes1cujQAWGC8-Ag
Image Credit:
Alexander’s Fine Portraits
Al Torres Photography Inc.
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