Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison Booker Brooks.
Allison, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a native Houstonian. I attended College Preparatory High School and college at Sam Houston State University where an earned a degree in criminal justice. I received a Master’s in Business for our lady of the lake university. I have been a social worker the majority of my working life. I have worked with foster children, adoptive parents, young adults and seniors. You could say I have worked the circle of life. I have always known that I wanted to be CEO or Executive Director of non-profit. I wasn’t necessarily sure of the nature of the organization but I knew that I had acquired the direct service skills and with an MBA I would be on the path to running a medium to large Non-profit, thus my appointment as the Executive Director of YWCA of Houston. I love serving my community especially women. Anytime I am given opportunity to speak women and encourage them makes me very happy.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I don’t believe that anyone has smooth road trying to achieve their goals. My first struggle trying to move up the non-profit ladder was met with resistance. I applied for assistance executive director position and was turned down, not because I didn’t have the experience but because I didn’t have a post graduate degree. I remember being completely devastated. I really thought the person just didn’t want to hire me because I was a young black female and somewhat outspoken. Little did I know that the seasoned Anglo executive director that refused to hire me became my biggest supporter and mentor. I can tell you that I was only going to be turned down once for not having that post graduate degree, I enrolled in a Master’s program the next week and completed in one year.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
As the Executive Director of the YWCA of Houston, I manage a staff of 30 and 4-million-dollar budget.
We are the second largest provider of Meals on Wheels in the city of Houston. we operate 11 senior centers where seniors can come and have a healthy meal and socialize with their friends. We served about 1500 seniors a day. We also provide permanent housing for homeless women ages 18-24. We provide drop in childcare services at Houston Community College Southeast. We provide a STEM camp for girls during the summer and Empowerment Zone camps for girls during spring break and winter break as well as a yearlong leadership camp for girls. When I tell people about all the services we provide they are shocked, it’s like we are the world’s best kept secret.
What makes me proud is that we run business that strives to be excellent. Most often people don’t think of Non-Profits as a business. It’s a business just like any other business, with budgets, forecasting and cutbacks when needed. I am proud that we have very little staff turnover because the people that work at the YWCA love their job. They have the love it because non-profits don’t pay like corporate America but we get paid with paychecks of the heart. I have best team and they are second to none.
What were you like growing up?
I was very studious. I loved school and was somewhat popular. I was on the pep squad and loved attending football games although we had the lousiest team.
Contact Info:
- Address: Allison Booker Brooks
- Website: ywcahouston.org
- Phone: 713-868-9922
- Email: ywca@ywcahouston.org
- Facebook: YWCAHouston
- Twitter: Ywcahouston
Image Credit:
Elroy McDaniel, Steven Dillard, John Huang
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