Name/Title:
Allison Herman (she/her), Director of Education
What is your organization and mission?
Hope For The Day is a nonprofit movement empowering the conversation on proactive suicide prevention and mental health education.
How many years do you have in the nonprofit industry?
1.5 years / Before working at Hope For The Day, I spent 10+ years working in marketing and advertising. I’ve also been volunteering in nonprofit organizations since childhood.
How do you develop and grow your desired culture within your organization?
I’m a big fan of leading with empathy and creating psychological safety for the passionate people who work here. I manage a team that works across multiple time zones so creating a culture of trust and flexibility is super important! I schedule-send slack messages/emails to fit people’s adjusted hours, and check in weekly to make sure workloads are manageable. I also take my vacation, Mental Health Fridays, and set boundaries to show people they should take time off and rest.
Hope For The Day also has a workplace culture of people who want to learn and do better; new ideas and projects come from everyone, no matter your level. Lastly, we have and continue to offer trainings that inform the work we do in mental health and suicide prevention. (Examples include: Military 101, LGBTQ+ basics, and Racism and Healthcare.)
What is your best time management tool or tip?
I’m in a deeply committed relationship with my Google calendar. It’s always up to date and shared with other members of my organization. Also, the “remind me about this” message feature of Slack is a game-changer!
What is your biggest time burden, and how have you addressed it?
Administrative work and scheduling used to take a lot of my time. I find organizing data and admin tasks incredibly relaxing, but there comes a time when you as a leader simply cannot do everything yourself. I hired an incredible coordinator to help me out!
